Mat aircraft arrives

Flights expected by July 20

Mat Airways’ Boeing B737-500 arrived from Belgrade to Skopje Alexander the Great Airport late last week sporting the old MAT livery (minus the name titles). The airline expects that a license from the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency (ACV) is imminent after the Agency gave the technical all clear for the aircraft which it grounded a year ago due to technical faults. Darko Miličić, from the “Metrpolitain Investment Group”, one of the owners of the new airline, spoke to the Macedonian “Dnevnik” newspaper. Miličić says that the region does not have a major charter airline and that Mat Airways is keen to become one. Through Belgrade, Mat Airways will offer all tour arrangements that Kon Tiki Travel offers.

The airline hopes that it will be able to begin operations by July 20. The Boeing B737-500 is now owned by the new Mat as it had been purchased at an auction in London in November 2009. The airline plans to introduce another aircraft by the end of the year. Miličić is optimistic that the airline’s name will remain “Mat”. He denied any speculation that the airline is connected with the previous management of the grounded MAT Macedonian Airlines but admitted that many former employees from the former airline now work for Mat Airways.