MAT to launch fourteen destinations from Skopje

The charter airline MAT Airways will resume operations from Skopje for the first time since August 2011. The airline, owned by the Serbian tour operator Kon Tiki, will launch fourteen destinations from May 1. The carrier will first inaugurate two weekly flights to Antwerp in Belgium. Just over a month later, on June 18, Mat Airways will launch flights to Ancona (3 times per week), Milan-Bergamo (3 p/w), Bologna (3 p/w), Rome (4 p/w), Trieste (4 p/w), Bratislava (4 p/w), Basel (5 p/w), Dusseldorf (3 p/w), Stuttgart (2 p/w), Hamburg (2 p/w), Berlin (2 p/w) Malmo (2 p/w) and Istanbul-Sabiha Gokcen (2 p/w).

The airline owns a sole Boeing 737-500 but is also likely to use Sky Wings International’s Boeing 737-300, which has been sitting at Skopje Airport for months. MAT operated flights last summer but suspended operations due to poor loads in August. The new flights can be booked via the airline’s website. Prices start from 45 euros. MAT could also be interested in applying for subsidies to be offered by the Macedonian government for low cost airlines.

If the flights get off to a successful start it will be a major coup for Skopje Airport which has already seen strong growth this year. In February, Macedonia’s two commercial airports (Skopje and Ohrid) handled 49.031 passengers, an increase of 22% compared to the same month last year. It was accompanied by a 4% increase in the number of operated flights to and from the airports. Recently, Skopje Alexander the Great Airport finally received a public transport bus link to the city centre, allowing passengers easier access to the country’s main airport.

B&H cancels all flights

B&H Airlines has cancelled all flights as its ATR72 leaves for Germany. Officially the aircraft has joined the other B&H Airlines ATR72 for maintenance. The airline’s Airbus A319 is grounded in Istanbul. As a result, the Bosnian carrier has cancelled all operations until further notice.

Strong start for Skopje and Ohrid

Skopje and Ohrid airports have continued their impressive growth in 2012. The two Macedonian airports handled 64.394 passengers in January, an increase of 24%. The figures were aided by 923 flights operated to and from the airports, thus representing an increase of 17% compared to the same month last year. The two airports experienced particularly strong growth during the holiday New Year season. Skopje Alexander the Great Airport handled 5.458 passengers in the first two days of 2012, representing an increase of 140% on last year. Similarly, Ohrid Airport recorded a boost of 86% during the two days by handling 643 passengers.

In 2011, Skopje Airport welcomed 759.928 passengers, while Ohrid saw 74.345 passengers pass through its doors. As a result, Macedonia recorded the eighth biggest passenger increase by country in Europe in 2011. The only country in the former Yugoslavia ahead of Macedonia was Serbia, by one place, while others fell behind. Estonia saw the biggest increase in passengers in 2011, while Slovenia and Slovakia were the rare ones to detract. Macedonia was ahead of much larger markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Spain and France.

Confirmed new arrivals to Skopje Airport this summer will be B&H Airlines from Sarajevo and Jetairfly from Brussels. Ohrid will also enjoy Jetairfly flights, while Jat Airways resumes its seasonal service from Belgrade. Sky Express, which operated flights from Moscow to Ohrid last year, has since gone bankrupt.

Good start for Macedonian airports

Skopje Airport has started the year off by posting strong passenger growth in the first days of 2012. The airport managed to handle 5.458 passengers in the first two days of the year, up 140% compared to the same period last year. Despite not having any scheduled flights over the winter, Ohrid Airport managed 643 passengers, up from 345 last year, representing an increase of 86%. Combined, Macedonia’s two airports welcomed 6.101 passengers, up from 2.613 a year ago.

The 2011 end of year result for Skopje Alexander the Great Airport is expected to be released soon and it will be a question of whether the airport has finally managed to top 800.000 passengers. With strong results recorded throughout the year, it is expected that it could well do so. In 2011, Macedonia’s main hub handled 716.000 passengers. With no scheduled airline based in the city, airport authorities will look to attract as many carriers as possible this coming summer. State subsidies for low cost airlines, which are set to kick in later on in the year, will help towards achieving such a goal.

In the first week of 2012, the airport also published its redesigned web page to correspond with its new terminal opened in September last year.

Numbers up as airline subsidies are approved for next year

Skopje is enjoying a significant increase in the number of passengers since it opened the doors to its new terminal in September. Last month, Macedonia’s main hub welcomed 56.180 passengers, an increase of 17.1% compared to the same month last year. The strong growth was followed up by an increase in the number of flights being operated to Alexander the Great Airport, up 15.4% on November 2010. Ohrid Airport, on the other hand, welcomed 1.332 passengers. Combined, the two handled 57.512 passengers, up from 50.541 passengers last November.

So far this year, Skopje and Ohrid airports have handled a combined total of 765.309 passengers. Therefore, they have already exceeded 2010s end of year result when they saw 756.088 passengers through their doors. In recent years the two airports have recorded rapid passenger growth, despite the demise of Macedonia’s national carrier MAT Macedonian Airlines.

Meanwhile, the Macedonian government has approved plans to attract new airlines by offering subsidies of up to five million Euros within the next three years. The choice of airlines that will receive the financial support will depend on several criteria such as frequencies, number of destinations as well as projected passenger numbers. A total of 1.4 million Euros in subsidies will be offered next year, increasing to 1.5 in 2013 and 2.2 million in 2014. Macedonia is currently served by two scheduled low cost airlines: Wizz Air and Pegasus Airlines.

Soon in Skopje and Ohrid

Belgian Jetairfly will commence flights to both Ohrid and Skopje in Macedonia from Brussels during the 2012 summer season. The route will operate as a triangle service, departing Brussels National Airport to Ohrid before returning back to the Belgian capital via Skopje. The flights will launch on May 13 and will operate twice per week with a Boeing 737. Jetairfly is aiming to attract leisure passengers heading to Ohrid but also passengers from Skopje in need of a direct link to Brussels. Macedonia is one of the rare countries in Europe not to have a direct service to the self proclaimed European capital city. Flights will operate on a seasonal summer basis until September 19. Details for the Brussels - Ohrid sector can be found here and for flights to Skopje here. No tickets will be sold for the twenty minute hop from Ohrid to Skopje.

Both of Macedonia’s airports are seeing a significant surge in passenger figures this year. In the month of October the two airports handled a combined total of 74.703 passengers, an impressive increase of 18.8% compared to the same month last year. This is in line with the strong growth the two airports have seen throughout the year. From January until the end of July the two welcomed 453.527 passengers, an increase of 13%. In 2011, Skopje handled 680.000 passengers, a figure it is certain to surpass this year.

New flights from Skopje and Ohrid

The Macedonian Government will offer low cost airlines a total of 1.4 million Euros in subsidies in an attempt to attract more tourists and passengers to both Skopje and Ohrid airports in 2012. The Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency recently announced that it is working on connecting Skopje with Milan, Dublin, Basel, Paris, Barcelona and Dubai. Currently, low cost airlines operating to Skopje do not receive subsidies from the state but are given incentives from airport operator TAV through lower landing and handling fees. The practice has so far proved successful. After Wizz Air launched flights from London and Treviso to the Macedonian capital, Pegasus Airlines, Blu-express, Belle Air Europe and the semi low cost Air Berlin followed. Soon, German Sky Airlines, a subsidiary of Sky Airlines from Turkey, will commence flights from Zurich to Skopje. The Civil Aviation Agency announced that these flights will be launched sometime during the winter season.

Wizz Air could be one of the airlines to take advantage of the government’s subsidies by expanding its offer from the Macedonian capital. Recently, Gyorgy Abran, Wizz Air’s Chief Commercial Officer, said at a press conference that the no frills carrier plans to introduce new routes soon. “We plan to introduce more routes, but we will first wait and see how our current offer performs”, Abran said.

Meanwhile, Ohrid Airport has managed to secure new flights for the coming summer. The mixed Turkish-Dutch airline Corendon will launch two weekly flights from Eindhoven in the Netherlands to Ohrid during the 2012 summer season. Flights will be inaugurated on May 4 and will operate until October 16. The airline has previously operated seasonal flights from Amsterdam to Ohrid.

Skopje and Ohrid airports to be affected by strike

Macedonian Air Traffic Control has said it will go on strike on September 19, which will in turn cause disruption to airlines operating flights in and out of Skopje and Ohrid. The Union of Macedonian Air Traffic Controllers is requesting higher pay and better working conditions. Talks between the union and government broke down recently. The union says that the government has issued threats to the air controllers, saying that they will lose their jobs if they go on strike. Negotiations between the two sides regarding the collective agreement have been ongoing for the past year.

M-NAV, the Macedonian Air Traffic Control Agency has strongly denied claims made by the union. It hopes that a collective agreement will be signed within the next 10 days in order for the strike to be avoided. M-NAV has seen record growth in the number of handled flights and is now the 13th busiest air traffic control agency in Europe, according to EUROCONTROL.

Macedonia’s air traffic controllers staged a strike back in 2009, disrupting flights for 6 hours. In the former Yugoslavia, Air Traffic Control went on strike once, in 1985. They were quickly replaced by military personnel and the strike went by largely unnoticed.

Construction work inside Skopje's new terminal

With less than a month left until the opening of the brand new terminal at Skopje Alexander the Great Airport on September 8, Macedonia’s main airport, together with Ohrid, is reporting strong growth. In July, the two handled 113.819 passengers, an increase of 17% compared to the same month last year when they welcomed less than 100.000 passengers. So far this year Skopje and Ohrid have seen 453.527 passengers use their facilities, an increase of 13% compared to the first seven months of 2010.



The two airports, in particular Skopje, have lately managed to attract new airlines. Only yesterday Pegasus Airlines from Turkey commenced flights. The low cost airline Wizz Air also commenced flights a few motnhs ago while Air Berlin also began flights to the Macedonian capital recently. As a result, Skopje and Ohrid handled 1.349 aircraft in July, an increase of 2%. According to internal sources, the airport is now looking for an airline in the region to base one of its aircraft at Skopje and operate several popular routes from the start of the 2011/2012 winter season.



Construction work at Skopje Airport is entering its final phase, with the new air bridges, which will connect the aircraft to the terminal, installed. Ohrid Airport on the other hand saw a small scale face lift earlier in the year.

Mat voluntarily grounds aircraft to prepare for competition

Macedonia’s Mat Airways could resume services next week after it grounded one of its aircraft, as reported on Monday. The airline says that it voluntarily grounded its Boeing 737-500 and took “time out” to reconsider its position on the market and better prepare for increased competition. Mat Airways operated its last service on June 20. Since then its sole aircraft has been grounded while Skywings International Airlines decided to split from Mat, only a month after it joined the charter airline. Mat’s management says that its aircraft will probably return to the sky next week and has been given a new look. On the other hand, Mat has halted the sale of all its tickets.

The Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency says that it did not play a part in Mat’s service suspension and adds that the airline has a permit to operate flights from Skopje and Ohrid to Zurich, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna and Copenhagen until June 15, 2012.

Meanwhile, the Turkish low cost Pegasus Airlines will commence 3 weekly flights from Istanbul’s Gokcen Airport to Skopje and 2 weekly flights from Izmir to the Macedonian capital. The airline will compete against Turkish Airlines, which operates flights to Skopje out of Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Flights from Izmir commence on August 15, while services from Istanbul will begin a day later on August 16. Flight details can be found on the right hand side in the new route launches section.

Another Mat ceases operations

Source : EXYU aviation news : http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com can reveal that Mat Airways, Macedonia’s largest airline, has suspended all services until further notice. Although it started operations only a year ago it seems the airline could have the same fate as its predecessor MAT Macedonian Airlines. Mat Airways is owned by Serbia’s largest tour operator – Kon Tiki Travel. However, the Belgrade based company has been experiencing financial difficulty of its own and wants to concentrate on its core business in Serbia rather than finance an airline in Macedonia.

Mat Airways’ Boeing 737-500 operated its last service on June 20 and has been grounded ever since. Macedonia’s other charter airline, Skywings International, which tied up with Mat due to both financial problems and problems with the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency has managed to restart its own flights, offering services from Sarajevo to Dusseldorf with its Boeing 737-300. Mat managed to restart operations to most destinations once served by MAT Macedonian Airlines. Only 2 days after it ceased flights on June 20 it was to commence flights from Ohrid to Tel Aviv in Israel. The airline has not officially commented on the suspension of flights. Only several days ago Mat’s CEO said that the airline would commence scheduled flights from Skopje in September.

Macedonia hasn’t had much success with its own airlines. The country’s first national carrier ceased operations in 1996 after 5 years in service due to fledgling passenger numbers and finances. A new airline, MAT Macedonian Airlines, was set up in 1994 and became the country’s flag carrier in 2000. It suffered financial problems and due to building debt was banned from landing at several key airports. In 2009 the Civil Aviation Agency grounded the airline’s single aircraft due to safety concerns although politics and corruption is said to have been involved in the airline’s grounding.

Nevertheless, it’s the end of another Mat for now. The difference this time being that those travelling from Skopje and Ohrid have a much wider array of airlines to choose from.

New look for St. Paul

The upgrade of Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport’s terminal has been completed, as was originally agreed upon between the Government of Macedonia and TAV Holdings, the airport’s owner. The airport’s new look terminal will be officially opened tomorrow by the Macedonian Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, and the TAV management in the country.

A 1.000 square meter hanger and a 2.000 square meter VIP lounge have been built at Ohrid Airport as part of the project. The airport has also received a 6.000 square meter parking lot. However, little work has been done on the passenger terminal with many wondering where TAV’s millions of Euros, allocated for the project, have been spent.

Nevertheless, TAV has delivered good on its promise to upgrade Ohrid and the project was completed on time. Work is ongoing at Skopje Airport where a new terminal is being built and expected to be completed by the end of October.

Skywings International 2008 - 2011

The Macedonian charter airline Skywings International (operating under the name Airlift Service), which took over the bulk of passengers from MAT Macedonian Airlines following its demise, is expected to declare bankruptcy, the Kanal 5 network reports. The airline was grounded back in December 2010 due to growing debt. While the airline’s CEO promised Skywings would be back in the air within days, the airline’s faith did not play out that way. Furthermore, Skywings has not applied for an air operator’s certificate (AOC), which is granted by the national aviation authority to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. Without it Skywings cannot fly.

Most of Skywings’ staff have already left the company, while its sales office in Skopje has been closed. Passengers who purchased tickets with the airline cannot refund them. A similar scenario took place with the country’s former national carrier, MAT Macedonian Airlines, which was grounded in 2009 and declared bankruptcy in 2010. Skywings International operated flights out of both Skopje and Ohrid to several major European hubs.

Skopje’s new terminal under construction (right)

Construction of a new terminal at Skopje Alexander the Great Airport is ongoing. The airport’s operator, TAV Airport Holdings, has plans to turn Skopje into a regional leader and holds high hopes that Turkish Airlines will set up an airline in Macedonia, a move rumoured since the demise of MAT Macedonian Airlines. Alp Er Tunga Ersoy, the Deputy Manager of TAV in Macedonia, told the Southeast European Times portal, "Our goal is to make Skopje a popular regional hub by using its advantageous geographical location. Thanks to this investment, Macedonia will have state of the art airport facilities and Skopje's Alexander the Great Airport will be one of the main drivers of economic growth in the region”. After work on the new terminal is complete, Skopje's airport will be nearly double the size of those in Belgrade and Sofia, according to officials. The airport runaway is being extended by 500 meters to handle wide body aircraft for long haul flights.

TAV claims that without a national carrier growth at Macedonia’s airports will be blocked. The Turkish airport operator hopes that Turkish Airlines will set up a national carrier in Macedonia. However, they also hope that some of Turkey’s 10 million strong diaspora will reroute via Skopje on their way to their homeland. Work on Skopje’s new terminal is expected to be complete in time for the 2011/2012 winter season in October.

Renovations are also under way at Ohrid's St. Paul the Apostle Airport, and plans are going ahead for the construction of the Philip II cargo airport, to be located in Štip in Eastern Macedonia.

Jat conscious of low cost threat

This summer Jat is preparing to significantly increase frequencies to many of its destinations on top of introducing new services. This summer, the Serbian carrier will serve Athens daily. The service was recently increased from 3 to 4 per week as it tries to fill the void left by Aegean Airlines’ suspension of the route. The extra frequencies are being primarily introduced for the Macedonian diaspora from Australia, which will be able to use Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways flights to Athens and transit via Belgrade to their home country. The additional frequencies are set to be added to reservations systems soon. Jat will also be reintroducing services to Ohrid. The seasonal flights will be operated 5 times per week, 4 of which will be nonstop and 1 of which will operate via Skopje. The airline will fly to Macedonia’s capital city 15 times per week this summer. Furthermore, Jat’s service to Dubai will be increased from 3 to 4 times per week and the airline also plans to fly 9 times per week to London Heathrow.

In a statement issued to the Serbian press this weekend the airline says, “We have now realised the threat we face from low cost airlines”. It continues on by saying that Jat is preparing various measures to fend off the competition. In only one week the airline sold 9.000 tickets on their special discount fare sale. In 2010, Jat handled some 1.100.000 passengers, although official statistics are yet to be released. Jat says that low cost airlines have taken some 400.000 passengers from the airline.

Next week, the CEO’s of Jat and Croatia Airlines will meet and decide which routes the two airline should open between the two countries.

PM tours around Skopje’s new terminal

On time and on budget, Skopje Alexander the Great Airport’s brand new terminal is set to open in time for the 2011/2012 winter season, in October. Macedonia’s Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, visited ongoing work on the construction of the multi million Euro terminal. Besides the new terminal, Skopje’s runway is also being extended, which will allow larger aircraft to land, while a new administrative building, a cargo storage building, new access roads, new parking for 250 vehicles and 100 taxis and a new fire department building are all under construction or have already been constructed.

“We are building a terminal ten times greater than the current one”, Gruevski said. The Prime Minister noted that some facilities will be ready by June. A total of 120 million Euros will be invested into both Skopje and Ohrid airports while additional funds will be set aside for a cargo airport in Štip, in the country’s East. By extending the current runway at Skopje, Gruevski believes that the airport will be able to handle long haul flights. Skopje is expected to see a big increase in passenger numbers this year, according to the airport’s management, on top of the impressive results recorded in 2010. Reconstruction of Ohrid’s terminal and is expected to be completed by April this year. Macedonia’s two airports are run by the Turkish company TAV.

Skopje’s new terminal under construction

In 2011 Macedonia will fully implement the European Free Sky agreement, which allow airlines to begin flights to Macedonia with ease. The sky liberalisation should coincide with the opening of Skopje Airport’s new terminal. The airport’s management believes that in 2011 passengers travelling from Macedonia will see more carriers, including low cost airlines.

Zoran Krstevski, the head of Macedonia’s Civil Aviation Agency notes that the full implementation of the Free Sky agreement is an important step for the country’s aviation industry. He believes that, as a result, Macedonia will become a more competitive market and passengers can expect new flights to the Middle East. Turkish Airlines is particularly interested in exploiting the mostly underserved Macedonian market, he states.

Several months ago, Skopje Airport’s management said they were negotiating with several low cost airlines to commence flights to the city. New flights have already been scheduled from Ohrid to Amsterdam and Helsinki in 2011. Both airports have seen their number of handled passenger increase this year, although most passengers are using charter instead of scheduled flights. Recently, the Macedonian based charter airline Air Lift Service, which served the bulk of passengers from Macedonia, terminated flights, leaving yet another void in the market on top of MAT’s demise in 2009.

Ohrid awaits new flights and tourists

Flights from Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport to Amsterdam and the Finnish capital Helsinki will commence in 2011. The Turkish based Corendon Airlines will operate scheduled charter flights from Ohrid to Amsterdam from May until the end of October. The airline will use one of its Boeing B737-800s on the route and will carry out 46 flights between the two cities. Corendon operated flights from Antalya to Skopje during the 2010 summer season.

In 2011, Macedonia will see its first direct flights to Finland, the head of Macedonia's Agency for Tourism Support and Promotion announced last week. While the airline that will operate the flights is yet to be named, they are scheduled to run from May until the end September. Both of the abovementioned services are expected to carry Dutch and Finnish tourists to the Macedonian resort town.

Both Skopje and Ohrid airports will end 2010 on a high. The Turkish operator TAV has taken control of both airports and construction on a new terminal in Skopje and the expansion of the existing terminal in Ohrid are underway. Furthermore, both airports have recorded a significant increase in passenger numbers. A month ago, the Skopje based Mat Airways began scheduled charter flights. The airline operates one weekly flight from Skopje to Berlin, Ancona, Verona and Copenhagen, two weekly flights to Rome and Dusseldorf and four weekly flights to Zurich. From Ohrid, the airline serves Zurich once per week.

Mat begins flights from Skopje base

The reincarnated MAT Macedonian Airlines, now known as Mat Airways, has begun scheduled charter flights from Skopje Alexander the Great Airport to Zurich and Dusseldorf. The airline, owned by Serbian tour operator Kon Tiki, is also offering flights from Ohrid to Zurich. It has been awarded the IATA prefix 6F. The airline is currently operating its flights with a single Boeing B737-500. Its other aircraft, a leased Aviogenex B737-200, has been returned to its owner and is now flying for Jat Airways. Currently, passengers can only book Mat Airways tickets at their offices in Skopje and Belgrade.

According to the Mat’s owners, the airline plans to commence flights to Rome, Barcelona and Prague in the near future. “Our plan is to expand our fleet and purchase another aircraft. We aim to be the best in the airline industry, slowly but surely reaching the top”, Zoran Milevski, the President of the board of the Metropolitan Investment Group (one of Mat’s owners) said.

Meanwhile, work on the new terminal at Skopje Airport is progressing although some changes have been made to the initial design of the terminal building. Currently, the runway is being lengthened. Skopje’s new multi million Euro terminal should open its doors to passengers in just under a year from now, on October 20, 2011.

Ohrid Airport

Ohrid’s St. Paul the Apostle Airport is one big construction zone as work on the expansion of the airport and the reconstruction of its terminal building, which commenced at the beginning of September, continues. The airport’s operator, TAV, plans for the construction work to be completed by March 2011. The project’s chief engineer, Jurgen Kurtaj from Tirana, told the “Utrinski Vesnik” newspaper that Ohrid will have the capacity to handle many aircraft. “During the summer approximately 15 aircraft landed at Ohrid per week but when the reconstruction is completed we expect the number to be much greater”. TAV is also hoping that passenger numbers will triple and that Ohrid will manage to steal away airlines and customers from nearby Priština and Tirana.

Currently, a 1.000 square meter hanger and a 2.000 square meter VIP lounge are under construction at Ohrid. The airport has already received a 6.000 square meter parking lot. The main terminal building is next to go under the hammer. TAV is investing 200 million Euros into Skopje and Ohrid airports. Currently, at Skopje, foundations are being laid for the new terminal building while its runway is being extended.

In July, Ohrid handled 7.341 passengers, a decrease of 4.2% from last year while Skopje welcomed 90.269 passengers, a strong surge of 17%.

Skywings joining Jat and Montenegro Airlines

Macedonia’s largest charter airline, Skywings International, operating under the name Air Lift Service, has said it is joining Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines in a regional EX-YU alliance. “This project plans to reduce ticket prices and establish new destinations to Western Europe”, a spokesperson from Skywings said. “We face the problem of high kerosene prices and taxes at both Skopje and Ohrid airports”. Skywings operates flights from Skopje to Dusseldorf, Zurich, Istanbul, Vienna, Rome, Brussels, Berlin and Hamburg. From Ohrid, the airline flies to Zurich and Skopje.

Last week there was confusion when the CEO of Montenegro Airlines, Zoran Djurišić, said there would be no unification of airlines or alliances. However, a few days later Montenegro’s Minister for Transportation, Andrija Lompar, told the media that Djurišić meant that there would be no takeover of airlines like some media suggested, rather, Jat and Montenegro Airlines would cooperate in order to decrease prices and jointly participate on certain routes.

The new EX-YU alliance will come into operation from October 31. Slovenia’s Adria Airways has also shown interest in joining the alliance while Croatia Airlines rejected its invitation.