Skopje and Ohrid on the rise

Crisis over for Skopje and Ohrid

The Macedonian capital Skopje and the lakeside resort Ohrid registered an increase in both the number of flights and passenger traffic in January 2010, when compared to the same month in 2009. A total of 953 flights were operated out of Skopje’s Alexander the Great Airport and Ohrid’s St, Paul the Apostle. This is in comparison to last year when the total number of January flights stood at 905. The number of passengers at both airports amounted to 47.355, an increase of 13.5% compared to last year when the 2 airports boasted a total figure of 41.723 passengers. Thanks to Skywings International (operating under the name Air Lift Service), the airports saw a 156% increase in the number of charter flights.

Despite the void left by the collapse of MAT Macedonian Airlines, the 2 airports are recovering from the global financial crisis which hit passenger figures in March 2009. While Macedonian airports did not see an immediate increase in passenger numbers following the visa liberalisation for Macedonian citizen, the effects are now starting to be felt. The following table displays the current share of flights each scheduled airline holds out of Skopje:

Airline	Share (%)
Adria Airways	17.7
Austrian Airlines	17.7
Malév	12.9
Jat Airways	11.2
Montenegro Airlines	11.2
Turkish Airlines	11.2
Croatia Airlines	9.6
Czech Airlines	8