Macedonian airports forecast slow recovery
Macedonia’s two international airports welcomed 782.836 travellers in 2020, with operator TAV predicting it will take “a couple of years” for Skopje and Ohrid’s traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels. Skopje Airport handled 710.711 passengers in 2020, representing a decrease of 69.9% on the previous year and its slowest since 2010, although the overall rate of decline is below the European industry average. Total aircraft movements on commercial flights stood at 7.625, down 57.6%. On the other hand, Ohrid Airport’s passenger figures declined 77.3% on the previous year. Both were closed for commercial traffic for three and a half months, from mid-March until July.
Skopje Airport passenger performance in 2020
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| JAN | 164.091 | ▲ 7.7 |
| FEB | 147.717 | ▲ 7.3 |
| MAR | 71.627 | ▼ 56.5 |
| APR | 1.853 | ▼ 98.9 |
| MAY | 923 | ▼ 99.5 |
| JUN | 49 | ▼ 99.6 |
| JUL | 57.419 | ▼ 76.3 |
| AUG | 67.122 | ▼ 74.6 |
| SEP | 54.816 | ▼ 76.5 |
| OCT | 54.017 | ▼ 74.7 |
| NOV | 44.001 | ▼ 74.2 |
| DEC | 47.076 | ▼ 73.3 |
Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News recently, the General Manager of operator TAV Macedonia, Metin Batak, said, "We expect a slow recovery in air traffic, not just for Macedonian airports, but for all within the TAV Airports group. It will take a couple of years for Skopje and Ohrid airports to get back to the passenger traffic levels that we had before the crisis. However, it is ungrateful to predict anything at this point, especially since the main limiting factor for Macedonian air traffic recovery - EU travel restrictions - do not depend on us as an airport operator”. He added, “Besides this challenge for the local market, we need to take into consideration all the challenges Covid-19 has caused for aviation worldwide. Airlines face internal changes, caused by Covid-19, and that creates global repositioning of their destination networks which have been adjusted to the different different travel restrictions across different markets”.
Travel restrictions imposed by the European Union remain one of the main short-term issues for recovery. “The biggest challenge for recovery of Macedonian passenger traffic are the travel restrictions for Macedonian citizens established by EU member states due to Covid-19. Namely, citizens with Macedonian passports cannot enter any of the EU countries, except if they are essential worker (mostly medical staff) or have a certain type of visa (depends on the country)”, Mr Batak said. Responding to the latest rules introduced by the Netherlands, which requires all passengers to possess not only a negative PCR test but also a rapid antigen test taken four hours prior to departure, Skopje Airport has partnered up with a private laboratory to perform the tests at the airport for those traveling on flights to the Netherlands.
0 Response to "Macedonian airports forecast slow recovery"
Post a Comment