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| Skopje Airport sees record numbers as government boosts subsidies |
Skopje Alexander the Great Airport is poised to handle its millionth passenger for the year within days following strong September growth. As a result, the airport will surpass the million mark for the first time in fourteen years. The only time Skopje has managed to handle more than a million passengers was in 2000 when it saw 1.000.200 travellers pass through its doors. In September, the airport handled 115.794 passengers, an increase of 21.6% compared to the same period last year. Over the past nine months it welcomed 926.495 travellers, up 21% on 2013, affirming its position as one of the fastest growing capital city airports in Europe.
Meanwhile, following a recent announcement it would extend financial support for low cost airlines into 2015, the Macedonian government has now said it will offer fresh subsidies which will target specific markets. The measure looks to boost visitors from the region travelling by plane. The Macedonian government plans to offer subsidies to tour operators focusing on visitors coming from neighbouring Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as long as they come by plane and stay for at least a week. Between 25 and 35 euros will be offered per person. “We have established that there is a lot more space to increase visitor numbers from these three particular countries”, a government spokesperson, Aleksandar Gjorgiev, said.
The new measure will also help fill planes to Skopje. Air Serbia currently operates daily flights from Belgrade into the Macedonian capital, with a second daily flight operated during the summer season. Together with visitors from Turkey, the Netherlands, Greece and Poland, Serbs were the second most frequent tourists arriving into Macedonia this year. On the other hand, there are currently no flights between Bosnia and Macedonia, however, B&H Airlines is considering launching flights from Sarajevo to Skopje via Podgorica. The boost in subsidies is part of a wider plan to increase income from tourism. From the start of 2015, subsidies to the amount of 65 euros per tourist will be offered for arrivals from Germany, the United States, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| JAN | 62.362 | ▼ 1.4 |
| FEB | 65.223 | ▲ 20.4 |
| MAR | 76.589 | ▲ 12.3 |
| APR | 105.596 | ▲ 42.0 |
| MAY | 109.029 | ▲ 24.3 |
| JUN | 116.352 | ▲ 20.8 |
| JUL | 132.227 | ▲ 17.5 |
| AUG | 143.424 | ▲ 25.4 |
| SEP | 115.794 | ▲ 21.6 |
Thank God there is a new terminal, the old one was beyond pathetic!!
ReplyDeleteI think it's a shame they did not give Air Serbia subventions to keep the night flight into Skopje.
Air Serbia would not add any value to Skopje. By that line of thinking it would make sense to subsidize any connecting airline operating from Skopje, and there's a number of bigger and more established carriers operating already.
DeleteAir Serbia is one of the biggest airlines in Skopje.
DeleteASL???? Brother please. Stay away from Vucko :)
DeleteWow, when and why SKP extended southern end of the runway?
ReplyDeleteI think it was extended when they built the new terminal.
DeleteIts only a displaced threshold. Planes can take off from it but they cannot touch down there...
DeleteInteresting! Dusan, do you know why is that?
DeleteGives you more room for V2 and V1.
DeleteGood thing would be CAT2 OTS, but there is a problem with hill and cemetery on top of it.....
OK please don't label me as a hater because I love Macedonia and Macedonian people. In my opinion, this madness with subsidies is completely unsustainable. It's not a problem to subsidise a low cost airline but constantly pumping in cash now even for tourists is completely crazy. Where is all of this money coming from? Same goes for the Skopje 2014 project. Where have they suddenly got all this money for such exravaganza. And they will also need cash to fund their national airline project. My guess is the money is coming loans and sooner or later the government won't be able to pay them back and the bubble will burst. Meanwhile TAV sits and watches as the government does all the work and to pay off the terminal the Turks built.
ReplyDeleteGood points about TAV and the 2014 project. However, the logic does not extend to these subsidies - in my opinion, it's the best thing they could've done, and the success is more than obvious.
DeleteDo you know how much tourists spend in Skopje?? Just take tax and there is more than enough.
DeleteAll airports are TAVs for 30 years. And tax comes from there too. Macedonia is not short sighted as Serbia.
DeleteAir Serbia promotions, two for one or one for two?
ReplyDeletewww.airserbia.com/sr-rs/novosti/air-serbia-najavljuje-promotivnu-akciju-dva-za-jedan-u-znak-obelezavanja-prvog-rodjendana
Since when are promo ticket sales news here?
DeleteIt' doesn't matter what's the news of the day, the only topic that must be discussed is Air Serbia. Be it whather there were pillows on the flight to Banja Luka, whether there is a promotional ticket sale or someone at the airline coughed. Admin, please publish some news from Serbia, it's been a few days and some people are obviously getting agitated. I just went into the Sri Lanka news on the left and all the comments are about Air Serbia. So, even if there is no news just make something up since it would calm some nerves.
Deletethank you admin for all the work I really do appreciate it and the topics.
@AnonymousOctober 24, 2014 at 9:52 AM
DeleteSince airports "approaching" numbers have also become news.
Much more relevant and newsworthy then a promotional ticket sale which every single airline has. I am interested in news from all countries not just Serbia
DeleteWell, here you have it: news from another country AND Serbia.
DeleteExcellent news for SKP, albeit I was expecting the one million passenger to arrive somewhere before December, but I'm guessing they are rushing bit since December can be very foggy and they don't want to miss the mark because of the fog this year :), just kidding. I hope the management will continue looking for new flights because I think there is still some more room to grow especially in Germany and also Spain is not covered at this time so I hope W6 will announce that they'll server MAD or BCN next year. If the airport can land one or two more legacy carriers and maintain the existing flights I'm sure next year will be 1.500.000+ passengers year. I hope also that Qatar Airways will consider sending a daily flight to compete with FlyDubai/Emirates on the Kangaroo route as well. Also, Moscow can be covered with at least 2 daily flights. Last, but not least, if the name issue didn't exist, he flights to Thessaloniki/Athens would be very successful and they can be easily go double daily because besides everything, there are a lot of ppl from both countries travelling between the two countries, Thanks for reading.
ReplyDeleteyou are right for flights to Greece but completely wrong regarding Moscow. There is almost zero interest in travelling to Russia at the moment, but this can change the moment the Russians fully abandon visas ( like they did with the Serbs)
Delete2 weekly flights to Moscow, sorry, my bad
Delete2 weekly moze :D
DeleteQatar to Skopje? Be happy you even got FlyDubai.
Deleteeven? why so negative? somethign bothering you?
DeleteMacedonians don't need visas to visit Russia - just a tourist voucher that can be ordered over the net for 20 euros.
DeleteFog season already started, there were some diversions and cancellations for that. Can't wait the fume coming from the wood heating in the city to form a fog staying 1-2-3 weeks as last year. It will just be handy with a crappy landing minima of 1300 m visibility and 500+ feet ceiling...
ReplyDeleteFraport Buying Remaining Aerodrom Shares
ReplyDeleteLjubljana, 24 October (STA) - After wrapping up the purchase of a 75.55% stake in Aerodrom Ljubljana, German airport operator Fraport published on Friday a takeover bid for the remaining shares.
http://www.sta.si/en/vest.php?s=a&id=2064971
the article is about skp, not lju..
Deletedoesnt matter as long is a relevant news
Deletehalf of all posts on this blog are about Air Serbia and Belgrade airport, actually nearly 65% are.
DeleteI think we can all agree, no matter what the subject Air Serbia and Belgrade airport will get more comments than any other subject cause there are few trolls who can't stick to the subject matter.
Great news for Skopje, keep them coming.
INN-NS
DeleteAnonymous at 4:34 PM
AHAHHAH pa o dobrim stvarima se komentarise svaki dan posto ima o cemu a za razliku mi se nestidimo ASL ili BEG ;))
BEG stvarno je za diku ali ASL treba da se stidimo.
DeleteSto? A pa da ti vise preferiras Turkish Airlines na letovima za Istanbul, ili Lufthansu na letovima za Frankfurt, ili je ona fora sa skupim kartama i losom uslugom? Kasnjenja od "2 sata"? Podeli nam svoje argumente molim te da budemo svi zajedno osramoceni "najgorom aviokompanijom" u Evropi. Mozes i nesto novo da izmislis:" Izgubili su mi prtljag koji je otisao u Tunguziju" ili "Stjuardesa je nosila protezu" ili "WC u avionu je bio zapusen". Uvek ima novih ideja ;)
DeleteINN-NS
DeleteSto da se stidimo ASL ?? =DD
Ne znam pitaj nezadovoljne "KORISNIKE"
DeleteINN-NS
DeleteBEG stvarno je za diku ali ASL treba da se stidimo.
Pitam tog Anonymous at 7:59 PM sto da se stidimo kad je ASL najbolja u EX-YU barem za mene =DD
Cuo za sarkazam? :D
DeleteAnonymous at 8:41
DeleteCekaj ti si pobrkao onog u 7:50 i 7:59?
da izvinite pobrkao sam pa treba da gledam u kuglu da znam dali je sarkazam :PP
DeleteINN-NS
Mislim da je sarkazam bio ocigledan (7:59) ali ne razumem cemu toliko pljuvanje AirSerbije, pogotovo na njihovoj Fb-stranici. To su sve vecinom lazi, ja sam leteo 7-8 puta, sve je bilo ok, osoblje ljubazno, hrana ok, avion odlican, kasnjenja 10-tak minuta nista stravicno...Nama nikad nista nije dobro..
DeleteINN-NS
DeleteAjmo u odbranu ASL necu sam ahhah :P
* da vam kazem da u inostranstvu nisu svi normalni
INN-NS
Pa nisu ni ovde svi bas ahaha eto i ne znam sto se pljuje toliko jadna nasa AirSerbijica :D Pa osnovana je tek pre godinu dana, dajte da vidimo sta su Adria, OU, Montenegro Airlines itd. uradili za svojih prvih godinu dana, ne verujem onoliko koliko je AirSerbija. Ne vredjam ja nikog samo mi je cudno sto se zale ljudi na nesto o cemu nemaju pojma...
DeleteINN:NS
DeleteMozda je ljubomora
Ali je najgore kad pocnu ASL da uporedjuju sa
DeleteU2 to pokazuje njihovu pamet
INN-NS
Nemoj tako ASL i NISKOtarifne aviokompanije su na istom nivou bre! Pa Boze me sacuvaj kako sme ASL da ima skuplju kartu od EasyJet-a? Pa gde to ima? Ili Ryanair sto je jeftiniji od AirSerbije.....Cudi me da i njega nisu ubacili u pricu... :D To su bre doktorirani putnici znaju oni kako to sve treba ;)
DeleteThe Wizzir routes from and to Skopje always has around 85 - 90% load factor (according to Wizzairs own numbers.
ReplyDeleteAlso flights to Barcelona, Geneva, Prague, Amsterdam and Berlin (germania will end the sip-berlin route 31 october) will have a big potential.
Good luck Skopje! - Sweden
skp - berlin*
Deletesorry
ohhh if we get in Skopje Barcelona,Geneva,Prague and Amsterdam we will be happy nation :))
DeleteYesterday I was travelling from SKP to BSL. The airport never seemed so lively and full in October and apparently all the flights taking off around midday were with good LF (VIE, MMX, DXB). Btw. LF on SKP-BSL was exactly 90% (162 pax). This news is awesome but however I think we need some new routes PRG, BUD, BCN seasonally, and Lufthansa to MUC or FRA in order to grow in near future.
ReplyDeleteI hope macedonia will soon get its own carrier and start flying to the main hubs like Heathrow Schiphol Frankfurt Moscow Barcelona/Madrid. I think seeing a macedonian flag in the sky could prove succesfull in 3-5 years. They have big potential for the tourism and also can get some transit passengers
ReplyDeleteGood luck with finding a sustainable business model which will support this idea. It is pure fiction at this point.
Delete@Anonymous 3:02 PM
DeleteWell if slovenia, croatia, serbia can do it than why not macedonia?
They just need some good investors
Adria and Croatia are dragging along, teethering at the edge of insolvency. Serbia was quite lucky with Etihad and injected quite a lot of money. Plus, thry're bigger markets.
DeleteDa odgovorim juceresnjom anonyousu za VIE moze biti jedino zbog jakog vetra posto je u tom delu Austrije skidalo i krovove a na aerodromu u Innsbrucku je duvao vetar od 122 km/h .
ReplyDeleteINN-NS
From the winter season Aegean will start sending its A319 to Belgrade in stead of the Olympic Q400.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably due to better loads as a result of a better interline agreement which was recently signed.
Qatar will be also launching direct flights to Belgrade, no more Ankara stops.
DeleteNeće leteti direktno već se dodaje peti let nedeljno via Ankara
Delete