The Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Communications, Aleksandar Nikoloski, has said the government is working on the launch of long-haul flights from Skopje. “We are working intensively to make Skopje the third capital in the Balkans to offer transoceanic flights. Currently, long-haul flights are available from airports in Istanbul and Belgrade, and our goal is for Skopje to become the third city to provide such connections”, the Minister noted. Mr Nikoloski said the project is “ambitious” but noted the benefits for the country would be significant.
The Minister did not specify how long-haul flights would be established from Skopje, however, it is not the first time the idea has been floated. In 2017, the Macedonian government discussed the possible introduction of flights from Skopje to the United States and Canada with Turkish Airlines' CEO Bilal Eksi. Macedonia and Turkey have an Open Skies Agreement in place with both the United States and Canada, which permits for a Turkish carrier to be issued fifth freedom rights by regulators from all parties involved. However, in order for Skopje to secure flights to the States, it would also have to undergo an audit by US authorities.
Commenting on the potential introduction of long-haul flights, the General Manager of airport operator TAV Macedonia, Nejat Kurt, said last year, “It is an ongoing conversation with airlines and our headquarters are working on this. We have all the tools, necessary equipment, and facilities to cater for long-haul flights to markets such as North America. I am personally convinced that this will happen in the nearest future. I believe that this is a good step forward and I hope that we will have a positive outcome with airlines that are willing to operate such flights”. Based on indirect traffic flow data, New York is Skopje’s busiest unserved long-haul destination. It is followed by Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, then Chicago, Toronto and Perth.
Great to see Skopje aiming to join the long-haul game!
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DeleteThis would make sense if Airbus a321XLR can reach SKP from New York or Toronto. If subsidies are fat enough, then definitely any airline should fly it!
Who is supposed to be an end user? Macedonian overseas diaspora is tiny, Albanian overseas is bigger but still small. Skopje is not an attractive tourist destination, Ohrid is but still not big enough. Who are these flights for?
DeleteThis sounds promising, but I wonder which airline will take the risk. Turkish Airlines seems like the best bet with their fifth freedom rights, but why wouldn’t they just funnel passengers through Istanbul?
ReplyDeleteThis. There's no airline barring TK and USA carriers that would even be willing to launch such flights, and even out of American carriers, only a few run a B767 that's small enough for this sort of route
DeleteAmbitious for sure but does Skopje have the passenger demand to sustain long haul flights year round?
ReplyDeleteNo but it probably has the subsidies and the political will to get some "prestigious" pictures with first long haul flying departing etc. etc.
DeleteThat is usually more important than year round o&d numbers.
New York only probably
DeleteWould love to see flights to New York or Toronto from Skopje. It would save the diaspora so much time and hassle, especially during the holiday seasons
ReplyDeleteThey should work really hard on attracting more airlines for flights to Europe, especially major European hub airports.
ReplyDeleteThat's the best way to connect SKP to the rest of the world.
+1
DeleteI’ll believe it when I see it. Skopje needs better EU hub connections before dreaming of transoceanic flights. Let’s fix the basics first
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DeleteFingers crossed for us from Australia. Maybe with Emirates with stopover in Dubai..
ReplyDeleteBut more likely NY and Toronto
With large subsudies ofc
DeleteZagreb and Dubrovnik are not on the Balkans? They don't have United to Newark, Transat to Toronto, T'way to Seoul?
ReplyDeleteAll are summer only.
DeleteThe article doesn't mention seasonal or year-round when he says the third city in the Balkans. And even if only talking about year-round, what happened to ATH? Or even OTP?
DeleteThat's why you know it's just propaganda rather than a development based in facts.
A: Zagreb and Dubrovnik are both in the Balkans
DeleteB: The minister is wrong, there's a total of 6 cities in the Balkans as a whole with flights to America (Belgrade, Dubrovnik, Bucharest, Athens, Zagreb and Istanbul)
He mentioned capitals only
DeleteFair but the only cities there that aren't capitals are Dubrovnik and Istanbul, which is nevertheless the economic centre of Turkey
DeleteIstanbul is not the capital of Turkey, Gospodi Boze
DeleteNe zameraj. Ministar je truba i pojma nema sta prica.
DeleteUgh, this guy again... I didn´t know that he is even a deputy prime minister... Jesus
ReplyDelete+1.000.000
Deleteimagine if he was PM ...
Deletework harder.
ReplyDeleteI would rather say first we get Europes bub connections then this long haul dreams !!
ReplyDeleteThey might as well work death... Nothing will happen.
ReplyDeleteThat’s funny to me
ReplyDeleteknew you will leave this detail from his infamous TV interview for a Sunday :D
ReplyDeletebtw someone should tell this guy that ATH has "transoceanic" flights to Newark with Emirates, so its not only BEG and IST
besides a bunch of other seasonal US routes
DeleteUseless af. No carrier will launch LH flights to SKP, not even TK. Too risky, better use JU’s BEG flights or attract European legacies that will do 2 in 1 job, offering transfers to North America and connecting SKP to main European hubs.
ReplyDeletefair enough but LOT and the LH Group airlines have better connections to USA and Canada than JU via BEG, and than you have TK too
DeleteSkopje - Bangkok, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteSkoplje Toronto, New York, Miam, LA, San Francisko, Tokyo, Perth for beginning, after Cape Town, Rio and Mexico City. Mexico City has higher demand than Buenos Aires. There is also huge mexican diaspora in Skoplje CBD. New York is a must, bc Wall Street.
DeleteWell they should work on it because sooner or later either they or Pristina will get flights to the US. Whoever is quicker will probably be able to sustain it.
ReplyDeleteThen can't even build 4km rail to connect the airport to the main railway so that we don't get ripped off by taxis or pray to the one unreliable airport bus to be on time, yet they're talking about longhaul flights 😂😂😂 Comedy and tragedy in the same time!
ReplyDeleteIt is apparently difficult to get Skopje to manage the balance between three strong airports in the vicinity of N. Macedonia, they are Sophia, Tirana and Priština. It is not only that subsidies help to cope with multiple flights, but in the first place it is passengers who decide where to go and which route to take. Skopje has received rumors that the staff are not professional and kind, the control officers behave aggressively. Toilets are not clean as they should be, many people in charge are bad at English.
ReplyDeletelol
DeleteIf they get an airline with the A321XLR it could definitely work. But let's first focus on getting Dubai, Doha, Munich, London Heathrow and other key destinations before thinking about transoceanic flights.
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