Wizz Air is considering restoring some of the Skopje routes it has been forced to cancel over the past year due to issues with engines on its Airbus A320neo family aircraft. Chief Officer for Wizz Air Hungary Operations, Roland Tischner, recently said, “We are constantly looking for new opportunities. We have now announced three new destinations from Skopje. Every time I came to the country, I was asked about Barcelona, which is a very sought after destination. There are also Lyon and Stuttgart being added. Later we could also include the Ohrid - Basel flights, but in general we are considering all possibilities that can be supported”.
According to Mr Tischner, “Like many other airlines, ours was hit by supply chain issues, especially with regard to GTF engines. This type of engine is the most efficient on the market. Due to production issues, many of these engines were recalled for inspection and we had to park part of our fleet. This led to a reduction in some of our capacities and therefore some of the destinations for our customers. The good news is that with the new deliveries from Airbus we can gradually restore the fleet, increase capacity and some of these destinations may return soon”. Over the past year, Wizz Air has discontinued routes such as Stockholm Skavsta, Luxembourg, Copenhagen, Cologne and Bremen from the Macedonian capital. This January it is operating 20% fewer flights from Skopje than last.
Commenting on its Skopje operations, Mr Tischner said, “We have long-term cooperation with Skopje Airport. We like this airport, and we are very satisfied with its performance. There are certain limitations in terms of airport infrastructure. There is a limit on the number of departures per hour. But the airport is already investing in new equipment, especially when it comes to security. For example, the scanners are old and there are only two lanes, but they are investing in new scanners, and we hope that they will be in use next summer and will increase capacity. As a result, I suppose that we could also increase the capacity further. There are other long-term investments, for example, you may know that there are certain restrictions on landings after sunset since they are only done in one direction. Also, Skopje is quite foggy in the winter and there are certain days when we must redirect operations to other airports. These are obviously long-term investments, they cannot be done overnight, but with these investments I think the airport would have almost endless opportunities to develop”.
Bravo north Macedonia
ReplyDeleteWe need turku skopje back
Delete2025 will start and 2026 will be the greatest in Macedonian aviation history with new investments such as e charging stations ,new check in counters , new scanners and many more , plus new destinations and more passengers👏👏
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteLOL x2
DeleteYou can lol how many times u want , the reality hurts I know
DeleteWhich reality?
DeleteEverything that I mentioned!
DeleteThey reduced SKP-LJU back from 4 to 3 weekly.
ReplyDeleteTickets are going for 100e one way with 95% load factor. No idea what's going on there
DeleteThey will increase in May
DeleteThey won't
DeleteWith 95% lf they wont increase it all year ?
DeleteI am surprised there are so many limitations at the airport as they mention.
ReplyDeleteMe too. I was unaware about landing in one direction after sunset.
DeleteAnd the security line thing.
DeleteI didnt know the security scanners were so old. Yes there are only two but i must mention that i always finish with that thing very fast whenever i am traveling. At other airports in Europe its always slow even though there sre multiple lines open.
DeleteThe scanners are old , its not about fast or slow , its older version , the new ones are like a cabin , thats some kind of requirement ...
DeleteGreat to hear about the potential route restorations, but Wizz Air really needs to focus on reliability first.
ReplyDeleteSkopje Airport does need infrastructure upgrades. Security bottlenecks and fog-related diversions are a real issue. It’s nice to see investments being planned, but let’s see how quickly they implement them.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey work on the new security scanners as well as new check in counters in the moment. But I dont know how they can fix the fog problem
DeleteJust talk. Lots more cuts coming this year.
ReplyDeleteHope not!
DeleteI think 2025 will be the same with cuts maybe not like 2024 but still will not be perfect , we can expect better days in 2026 when they will recieve new planes..
DeleteSixth plane is expected to be returned in June or July.
Delete12:27 so slowly but for sure thats a good sign!
DeleteAnyone else notice that the subsidized Basel-Ohrid flights are far ftom a sure thing from his statement?
ReplyDeleteYes, does not seem like ot's happening.
Delete*it's
DeleteThey will launch the route instead they will not recieve money for it , as mentioned in the text they will launch it its just matter of time
DeleteProbably they need a bit more time to find a plane to operate that route in W direction, since niether OHD nor BSL is their base.
Deletenone of their OHD flights are flown with SKP based aircrafts
Delete12:28 exactly it takes time
DeleteAnd do they restore flights from PRN?
ReplyDeleteI don't think they discontinued any flights from PRN.
Delete^^ Basel + Baden Baden
DeleteThey discontinued flights from PRN too ...
DeleteHow they can fix the fog issue ? And the landing after sun set ?
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain to me what is the issue with landing after sunset?
ReplyDeleteI would like to know too.
DeleteI guess its the visibility of the runway , I think since they open the airport in 2011 they havent invested in that equipmemt , only they renovate the asphalt surface , and also they need to find solution for the fog...
DeleteTopography/mountains around the airport?
DeleteAfter sunset the landing is allowed only for runway 34 which has an ILS. The issue is when there is a strong wind from the south meaning that the planes are only able to land in the opposite direction which is runway 16. There is a circle-to-land procedure for this type of approach, but it's only allowed during the day because of the terrain.
DeleteOh okay but most of the times the winds are in favour for runway 34. Even during the day its very rare when planes land on runway 16.
DeleteSo how can they fix this issue ?
Delete12:30 - yes, most of the time (99%) runway 34 is used for landing even during the day with tailwind, because of its ILS approach it is much less workload for the pilots, so everybody prefers R34. However, the problem arises when there is tailwind stronger than 15 knots (or 10knots for some models) , then it’s not allowed to do the approach for 34, so only runway 16 can be used in this case, and only during the daytime hours. So, if it’s nighttime, then aircraft has to divert to another airport. But again, diversions due to tailwind are very very rare, much bigger limitation for SKP is the fog during the winter.
DeleteIf you have ever been familiar with PR you will know that you must shift at least a bit of fault to your partner in situations where you are solely responsible for it ;)
ReplyDeletethis talk about the airport limititations is correct generally but has nothing to do with Wizz cutting a quarter of their SKP flights due to their engine problems. Remember, Varady did they same in a recent interview shifting away the topic of the interview by mentioning bilateral limitations due to Macedonia not being in the EU, I mean come on as if they were going to launch 10 routes to non-EU destinations from SKP ;)
Don't buy that they will bring back any routes his year. It's going to be another hard year for Wizz and airports which depend on them a lot.
ReplyDelete2026 should be better , this one will be the same with cuts and not big increasing ... they said very well 2026!
DeleteAs many times was mentiomed here, due to mountains around SKP has only ILS CAT I approach and cannot be upgraded, that means is visibility is under 800 m, (medium fog) you can't land in any direction. The only solution is to build another runway direction 11-29 and dislocate entire village. That will allow better (less mountains aproach) and posibility to have ILS CAT IIIC (no visibility restriction). That requires Millions of euros and will not happen 😃
ReplyDeleteAnoyher thing is departing ditection 29 means flying above the entire city of Skopje (noise issues).
So from December to February you might land at different airport 😃
Good explanation thank you :) so basicly there is no alternative solution for the fog ? 😒
DeleteBtw in December I dont remember there was any fog issues , it is only from 02.01 until around 15.01 when there is the heaviest fog , so around 2 weeks. In february there is sun so I dont remember any fog issues too 😀
There is an alternative... it just costs money to upgrade
DeleteIt can be upgraded of course. It's just a question of willingness.
DeleteWell as I understand in the text they are also invest in long term solutiom for tje fog right ? So we can expect in near future some upgrade , they are obviosly aware of that problem.
DeleteThey will never return to Cologne because they dont fly there anymore , so this saying the rest 4 routes could be restored in near future ? Hopefully they will not cut anymore and bring some new routes too , fingers crossed!! This is good promissing and good sign as well!!
ReplyDeleteRestore the flight between Skopje and Hannover Please.
ReplyDeleteДали ке се врати летот Скопје-Стокхолм (Скавста)-Скопје, кој беше застапен со два термина во неделат
DeletePlease return the flight Skopje - Stockholm Skavsta
ReplyDeleteYes! Please! A lot of people travel with these flights.
DeletePLEASE RETURN SKOPJE - STOCKHOLM SKAVSTA FLIGHTS!!! A lot of people are flying with these and we need them very much!!!
ReplyDeletePlease bring back Skavsta - Skopje flight..
ReplyDelete