Wizz Air's market dominance grows in Macedonia

Low cost airline Wizz Air has announced that it has reached a market share of 89.5% in Macedonia among low cost airlines based on seat capacity, the biggest in its entire network. The carrier is ahead of second placed Pegasus Airlines with a share of 7.7% and Flydubai with 2.8%, the airline noted. In comparison, its share in Serbia stands at 62.3% and in Bosnia and Herzegovina at 47.7%. Overall, Wizz Air is the busiest airline operating out of Macedonia with a passenger share of just over 54%. It will further strengthen its dominance this summer when it bases its fourth aircraft in the Macedonian capital in July and introduces flights to Malta, Rome and Vaxjo. As a result, it will handle over one million passengers on flights to Skopje this year.

Skopje Airport continues to maintain its position as Wizz Air's largest base in the former Yugoslavia. "We started our operations in 2011 in Macedonia and since then, we have earned the trust and loyalty of our Macedonian passengers, becoming the airline of choice in the country. With the establishment of our Skopje base and the continuous expansion of our low-fare network, we created a number of local jobs while stimulating tourism and the aviation industry", the carrier said recently. In addition to Skopje, the airline also maintains operations from Ohrid with year-round flights to Basel and seasonal services to London. Wizz played an instrumental role in boosting Macedonia's overall available seat capacity by 14.8% in 2016, making it the fastest growing market in the former Yugoslavia based on the number of available seats for sale.

Wizz Air has labelled its performance in Skopje and Ohrid as "a Macedonian success story". Zoran Krstevski, a Board member of TAV Macedonia and the former General Manager of the company, which runs the country's two international airports, said late last year, "With the assistance of the government, together with Wizz Air, we have built-up the Macedonian market. As we begin to handle over two million passengers per year, interest from other carriers will also grow". Eurowings will become the latest low cost airline to introduce services to Macedonia when it launches flights between Munich and Skopje on October 31. Norwegian Air Shuttle has previously also expressed interest in serving Skopje, while in 2015 Ryanair said it was in talks with the Macedonian government over potential flights from the country, however, its plans never materialised.