Country without a carrier

The Macedonian based Airlift Service receives new aircraft

Macedonia continues to be one of the rare European countries which lacks a national flag carrier. No airline is interested in becoming Macedonia’s national airline and the Macedonian Government has shown no interest in setting one up either. The “Daily Macedonia” reports that the Government has concluded that setting up a national carrier would be too costly and would only produce losses.

The owner of Macedonia’s two international airports, TAV, has called on the Macedonian Government to create a national carrier in order for the two airports to profit and expand. The CEO of Airlift Service (which operates charter flights from Skopje under the name Skywings International), Ajan Džaferovski, explains that there is no need for a national airline. “I can’t name a country which has created a national carrier in the past twenty years. Most countries want to get rid of them or sell them, as is the case with Jat”. On the other hand, the Ministry of Transport says that any future national airline in Macedonia will be privately owned and won’t have any state capital.

Airlift Service operates charter flights out of Macedonia and recently received a Boeing B737-300 (registered Z3-AAN). The newly established Mat Airways received its registration code, 6F, but still operates charter flights out of Belgrade, Serbia on behalf of tour operator Kon Tiki Travel.