Firmly on the ground

Engine problem

MAT Macedonian Airlines will not be flying anytime soon. The airline’s sole aircraft, a Boeing B737-500 has been grounded by the Macedonian Aviation Authority due to a faulty front leg of the aircraft. Now the aviation authority has said that MAT’s management has hidden from them the fact that an engine is heavily damaged. According to the Macedonian Aviation Authority, the technical division of Jat Airways in Belgrade found that one of the engines was heavily damaged and informed the management of the national carrier of Macedonia. However, the airline failed to mention this to the aviation authority.

MAT has asked the country’s aviation body to issue a flying license for the aircraft to return from Belgrade, where it has been serviced, to Skopje. The aviation authority responded to this by saying that it had contacted the engine manufacturer which said that the aircraft cannot fly with the current state of one of its engines. The Macedonian Aviation Authority has requested for the engine to be replaced. MAT has already replaced the front leg of its aircraft.

Macedonian media is speculating that MAT’s owners will register a new company, named Mat Airways, in partnership with Serbia’s Jat Airways. MAT Macedonian Airlines has been grounded since April this year.