Mat Airways or Aeromak?

The good old days ... MAT Macedonian Airlines

MAT Macedonian Airlines has now officially been left without a single aircraft after the Macedonian Civil Aviation Directorate (ACV) removed the airline’s single Boeing B737-500 aircraft, currently located in Belgrade, from the country’s aircraft register. While the airline has still not been shut down, its end is expected to be near. The airline still has pilots employed with valid licenses, meaning that the airline could fly again only if it acquired at least one new aircraft. MAT’s management did not hand in its 2008 financial report to the ACV, as it was required to do so by September 1. Macedonian media speculate that the management is purposely shutting down MAT so it could launch a new airline called Mat Airways by the end of October. However, the ACV did not issue a license to Mat Airways which is registered in Cyprus with its offices in Macedonia registered as being Jat Arways’ Skopje office.

Meanwhile, Jat Airways is stepping away from Mat Airways which it planed to launch with MAT Macedonian Airlines’ managment. Instead, Jat is now looking into launching Aeromak. Aeromak was registered by Jat during the late 1990s but was never launched. Since MAT cannot repay the millions in debt it owes to Jat it is believed that the Macedonian government will allow Aeromak to launch flights from Skopje and become the country’s largest airline. MAT’s management wouldn’t play a role in Aeromak’s management.