Macedonia plans new subsidy tender for launch of new routes
The Macedonian Minister for Transport and Communications, Blagoj Bočvarski, has said the government plans to subsidise the introduction of more new routes from Skopje and Ohrid airports with a tender to select the destinations and operating carrier(s) to be launched towards the end of the year. “We have enough funds to organise another public call at the end of the year, which will enable more airlines to apply and more routes to be launched. Our commitment as a government is to provide quality services with a wider range of destinations for the public”, Mr Bočvarski said. A new tender would likely be held to enable carriers to add new routes from either Skopje or Ohrid airports in time for the 2024 summer season, which begins in late March of next year.
The development comes just a week after Wizz Air and Lufthansa were successful in their application for Macedonian government subsidies in return for the introduction of new routes. The budget carrier will commence operations from Skopje to Ljubljana, Luxembourg, Stuttgart and Salzburg this November, although flights are yet to be scheduled. On the other hand, Lufthansa’s new ten weekly service from Frankfurt to the Macedonian capital, which launches today, will also be subsidised, even though the carrier announced the new service well before the previous tender was launched. The subsidy scheme will provide state funds in the amount of seven euros per each departing passenger from Skopje over the next three years. The government said the carriers will be obligated to continue operating the routes after the subsidies end.
Once the new Wizz Air routes to be launched this coming winter season are factored in, Skopje Airport’s busiest unserved European destination based on indirect traffic flows will be Amsterdam, followed by the likes of Dusseldorf, Prague, Munich, Barcelona and Madrid. The busiest unserved route from the ones set to be introduced this winter is Ljubljana, followed by Stuttgart. The Macedonian government has been conducting tenders for the introduction of new services since 2013 and has so far held four. All have been won by Wizz Air, which was the only to have applied, with exception to the last one earlier this year, which also included Lufthansa.
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