Wizz Air will be adding eight new routes from Macedonia starting this March, after the carrier signed a new three-year subsidy agreement with the country for the introduction of new destinations. The no frills carrier will introduce year-long flights from Skopje to Baden Baden and Bremen, as well seasonal services from the Macedonian capital to Turku in Finland and Larnaca in Cyprus. In addition, Wizz will commence year-round operations to Ohrid from Malmo, Milan Malpensa, Memmingen and Dortmund. As a result, the low cost airline will base its fifth aircraft, an Airbus A320, in Skopje. The fleet expansion will also enable it to increase the number of weekly flights on existing routes from Skopje to Gothenburg, Hamburg, Cologne, Malta and Basel. According to the company,. the fifth jet represents a further 101 million dollar investment into the Macedonian aviation industry and will contribute to the creation of over thirty new direct jobs with Wizz Air.
| Route | Launch date |
|---|---|
| Malmo - Ohrid | MAR 18 |
| Skopje - Baden Baden | MAR 19 |
| Milan - Ohrid | MAR 19 |
| Skopje - Bremen | MAR 20 |
| Memmingen - Ohrid | JUL 01 |
| Dortmund - Ohrid | JUL 02 |
| Skopje - Turku | JUL 03 |
| Skopje - Larnaca | JUL 03 |
Click on link for further details
Wizz Air's Chief Commercial Officer, George Michalopoulos, said, "Further expanding our Macedonian operations means that Wizz Air can provide even more opportunities for Macedonian customers to travel across Europe at the lowest prices. Today we announced the allocation of the fifth aircraft to our base at Skopje together with eight long-awaited routes from Skopje and Ohrid to Germany, Cyprus, Finland, Sweden and Italy". He added, "We are confident that our customers will appreciate these connections and that these routes will be as popular as the other thirty in our Macedonian network. We will continue to further expand our network footprint and provide truly affordable prices, as well as stimulate the local economy of the communities we serve".
The Macedonian Minister of Transport and Communications, Goran Sugareski, noted, "It is our pleasure today to start a new phase in the development of air traffic in the Republic of Macedonia. As the responsible government body, we are strongly committed to the development of air transport and creation of conditions for establishing access to new destinations for Macedonian citizens. Today we signed an agreement with Wizz Air, which is the beginning of a new cooperation and an opportunity to improve air traffic in our country. I would like to congratulate the airline. They remain a serious partner of the government in the development of air traffic in the Republic of Macedonia".
Tickets for the new routes are already on sale through Wizz Air's website. During the 2019 summer season, the low cost airline will offer 38 destinations from Macedonia.
Lol... SKP-LCA will be such a flop. I give it a year, max.
ReplyDeleteYes, if it cannot work properly from BEG, it cannot from SKP.
DeleteExactly especially since Serbs are the biggest ex-YU minority there.
DeleteIt can work in the summer, BEG has also AS so it is not the same.
DeleteYou'll be surprised about LCA. It's getting really popular from BEG, SOF and VAR.
DeleteThe same goes to PFO.
There are around 15.000 Bulgarians in Cyprus and many Cypriots study at Bulgarian universities. University of Varna has billboards all along the highway.
DeleteAs for BEG, don't forget that JU launched LCA in 1992 after it tookover the route from JP. Demand was always there. I don't see LCA lasting beyond summer months.
why do they study in Bulgaria, don't they have universities or the admission is so super hard?
DeleteI doubt students can be such a factor to justify so many flights.
Nemjee, W6 must operate all these routes year-round to qualify for subsidies.
DeleteNot sure if they would be allowed to "replace" routes that potentially don't work out with new unserved destionations (PAD in Germany for example).
Namjee, can you give us also the numbers for Serbians and Macedonians in Cyprus?
Deleteif Malta can work year round for Wizz then why not Larnaca.
Deleteyou've never said a positive word about Macedonia on this forum ...
Anon 11.12
DeleteThey go abroad usually because there are some universities that are not available on the island or that are cheaper in places like Bulgaria or Hungary. Maybe these numbers are not high enough but they help boost a certain route.
Anon 11.14
I am sure you can find these numbers online, especially in the Cypriot census. The 1.700 is the estimate of the Serbian embassy in Nicosia and it includes all 'Yugoslavs.'
Anon 11.17
DeleteI am stating facts here. There is a reason SKP-LCA is being launched only once government subsidies came into play. Those are facts, you might like them or not, that's your own thing. However saying that SKP flights can make it just because BEG or SOF do is funny.
Thanks Namjee! 15.000 Bulgarians vs 1700 "Yugoslavs" is really a substantial difference
DeleteLarnaca is seasonal anyway. im not sure they are getting subsidies for it
Deletecorrection: the winter timetable is not out yet
DeleteIt has to be whole year to get money.
DeleteCould the SKP-LCA flight attract passengers from northern Greece and western Bulgaria who would otherwise fly from SKG or SOF?
DeleteI would say rather from southern Serbia, Kosovo and to a less amount Albania. Ryanair and Wizz are really dumping their fares from BG to CY in order to attract local pax
DeleteNo subsidies for LCA as it's only seasonal... so much for all this expertise above.
DeleteUnder the subsidy contract only 2 routes from Skopje will be subsidized and 4 from Ohrid so obviously the 2 seasonal ones are not subsidized.
DeleteWell if W6 can support flights from Cluj, Debrecen, Iași, Katowice, Kraków, Kutaisi, Varna, and Vilnius to LCA then why not SKP?
DeleteI believe it will go well and next year might be started earlier.
Is there a visa requirement for travel to Cyprus?
the contract says at least two. Remember, Wizz had commited for 6 new routes from SKP in the first tender, two are stil missing ;)
DeleteSOF-LCA is served up to 5 weekly in summer by W6 and 4 weekly by FB.
DeleteSOF-PFO is 3 weekly
VAR-LCA is served year round 2 weekly.
These are crazy numbers and indeed could confirm Nemjee's point.
I think it will work for SKP too as many Macedonians are holders of Bulgarian passports and residing in Cyprus.
no visa for Cyprus
DeleteKosovo passports are not accepted in Cyprus so no market there. As for LCA, people are overestimating demand from SKP. BCN kind of performed badly and market is much larger. SKP potential is grossly overestimated.
DeleteHappy taxpayer there are 3 airlines flying from SKG to LCA and FR flying to PFO. All f them year round.
DeleteSo W6 would have to be really cheap to attract customers away from them.
LCA is definitely exotic so let's see if it survives but of course subsidies will help.
Deletesame was said for Malta. today its been even increased to 3 weekly
DeleteCyprus and Malta have increased their standard of living a lot after EU membership.
DeleteAgain we are talking about mini states like Qatar, so it´s very easy to become richer.
And well Cyprus is definitely a year round destination.
It was always an emigration destination but the lowered class such as cleaners, hotel staff, etc.
Yes and Bulgarians and Romanians moved to Cyprus to clean and be hotel staff. If market was there Ryanair would launch PFO flights. I think Wizz is running out of destinations.
Deletedude Ryanair is flying from PFO to both BG and RO. are you the "observer"?
DeleteI would say PFO is more leisure than gasto.
DeleteOTP-PFO is year round maybe this one is gasto but SOF-PFO is seasonal.
I am seeing a PFO connection to Yugoslavia within the next year or two.
As for W6, it's too late for them to open a base there, because it is already taken by FR.
Why would W6 open a base in PFO? They fly to 15 destinations year round from LCA according to Wikipedia. So if they open any new flights in Cyprus it would be from LCA.
DeleteLCA will work out from Skopje! Makedonians are hungry for new seaside destinations different from Kavala, Paralia and Chalkidiki.
DeleteWOW :)
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for some Iberian destinations...
ReplyDeleteThey will be started from INI, just wait.
DeleteAhahahaha Germany Germany Germany :D
ReplyDeleteDemand Demand Demand
DeleteSKP must be full of German tourists?
Deleteincrease of 60% compared to last year
Deletefrom 100 to 160
DeleteGastarbeiter, Gastarbeiter, Gastarbeiter!
DeleteHow are Bus operators performing? It is good to see flight pax increasing, but in the end it is important that it is not just a shift from BUS to AIRBUS!
Deletebus operators are expanding too, lol
DeleteMORE German routes to SKP? This is simply unbelievable.
ReplyDelete11 routes in total is just way way too much.
Hello Baden Baden and Bremen.
DeleteGoodbye Frankfurt and Munich.
bad observations: you have already Hahn and Memmingen ...
Delete@Anon 11:18
DeleteIn case you missed the point, opening additional routes to Germany further reduces the changes of opening either FRA or MUC.
DUS and STR also also missing from a EW point of view, but FRA and MUC are major European hubs, so deserve a special mention.
With these subsidized and non-subsidized routes LH won't touch SKP with a ten foot pole.
DeleteBut guys, I dare say that SKP is the only capital city in the region connected to so many German destinations leaving BEG much behind in this sense. Not even OTP I think has so many direct connections.
DeleteAre Germans visiting Macedonia or is it all about gasto routes?
Gasto routes but not just for Macedonians but for Albanians in particular.
Deletethe only ones that will not touch SKP with a ten foot pole from Germany as you said are Ryanair and probably Eurowings (although DUS is stil free). LH is a completely different market. If the LH market in MK is not existing then it is so, but it has nothing to do with the gastos. These two are parallel worlds
Delete@Anon 12:32
DeleteWhat the point in having a platform such as this to discuss civil aviation if people are not expected to question consequences of new developments.
It's a question of whether diversity is a good thing or not.
Having W6 operate over 10 destinations to Germany, mainly but not exclusively to smaller secondary and tertiary airports impacts the viability of other operators opening routes to major international airports such as LH to FRA or MUC or EW to DUS or STR.
These are valid points that are worth pointing out.
No one is arguing that opening of new routes is not good. Of course it's good, it will increase passenger numbers. But the question is whether it would have been better to attract LH/EW and/or AF/KL/HV to a major hub with excellent connectivity.
Excellent! Never expected 8 new routes!
ReplyDelete4 routes from Skopje is FJIKHDKJ BRILLIANT!!!!!
ReplyDeleteTranquilis, no GVA?
ReplyDeleteIt seems there is simply no market there despite your 'protestations.' Wizz Air have offices at GVA airport so they should have a hand on the pulse for the local market.
Bilateral limitations apply, since Switzerland is not an EU member. Could've launched Lyon or Grenoble though.
Deletelol observer, again bad observations. They cannot fly to CH
DeleteAnd yet, the operate GVA-SOF and GVA-OTP routes. Please elaborate.
DeleteEU and non-EU.
Deletelol third bad observation
Deletedude, Bulgaria is in the EU.
OMG, I asked Tranquilis a question that s/he has previously raised as the most obvious new route addition from SKP for W6 and I did not recall that Switzerland is not part of ECAA. Wow, that's unforgivable, I deserve to be lynched, right?
DeleteI recall flying from CDG to GVA over 10 years ago and existing through a 'French' sector without passport control. I was under the impression that the airport had a similar status to BSL.
Nonetheless, the question still stands? If the market is there (never seen passenger figures between the two), why is no one opening this route? Why does Wizz Air not open a Macedonian subsidiary and register at least one out of its five SKP-based aircraft to fly routes outside the ECAA?
They do have a point though, no need to be so touchy ;)
DeleteI've been on the receiving end of quite something around here even when presenting proper facts.. =)
The 'French' sector in GVA is for domestic flights only unfortunately.
It will be up to easyJet to launch it. Should happen sooner or later, they have all the info they need. The ball is in their court.
Subsidiary and AOC scenarios are simply unsustainable. Cases in point are Ukraine and Bulgaria. UK is something completely different of course. I imagine the based capacity equivalent to be at the very least in the teens there, quite a bit of a stretch from four or five.
Anyways, congrats on the 5th aircraft. Somebody finally sold the idea of Finland/Turku, I find that one quite entertaining. LCA should be just fine.
Turku will be enteraining when it fails together with LCA and a few German villages. PRN should be their focus as yield is much higher and they can expand without subsidies. PRN is already ahead of PRN.
DeleteTranquilis, you've made a valuable contribution here for a while with in-depth knowledge of both Macedonian market and W6. I respect that and value your posts. I recall you mentioning GVA on several occasions and I would have expected it to be included in this wave of expansion ahead of destinations such as LCA or TKU. I had overlooked the fact that GVA cannot be served in the same way as BSL, but I had first hand experience of the 'French' extry/exit at GVA in the same way that BSL has French and German entry/exit points.
DeleteTrue, you've been in the receiving end of some unpleasant comments, but these are only targeted at people with knowledge. No one targets losers, so it's a kind of compliment.
In any case, W6 has delivered. It's now serving countries as south as Malta and Cyprus, as north as Finland and Sweden, cities such as Milan and Rome (and cheekily they refer to FMM as 'Munich' in the new routes map). There can be no complains, in my opinion. They're delivering their part of the bargain with 5 SKP-based aircraft. Whether this is the best route that Macedonia could have chosen to develop SKP and OHD will remain open for years to come.
I'm very curious to find out what happens in the next 3-5 years. I don't see how anyone can complete for the core European market with W6 at SKP. I can foresee OU and JP, and to a lesser degree JU struggling for non-core connecting passengers (considering that there are so many direct routes now) when you have OS and TK offering twice daily connections to much bigger hubs. LO is an interesting option and A3 can grow and grow since it's a major trading partner. So, how will conservative airlines like AF, KL, BA or LH and their low-cost subsidiaries enter and complete is difficult to see. Nonetheless, whoever expected say in 2010 to see SKP reach 2m passengers by 2018 would have been referred to a mental asylum. So, onward and upwards.
Thank you for the kind words. Happy to read sound and well-written criticism at any time though, don't refrain from it if there's anything else on your mind. As usual I'll happily oblige with info I have the luxury to be privy to.. within reasonable boundaries of course.
DeleteThey are worse than Ryanair. If they get the money from the state, they do not care if it´s 5 or 100 Pax on board. Then however they will dump the prices since every Pax on board brings them additional revenue, be it 5 EUR. The question is if they will stay beyond subsidies and why the state always prolongs the subsidies?
ReplyDeletema nemoj
Delete+1000
DeleteSo much ignorance in so few words.
DeleteBut Finland from Skopje?
ReplyDeleteProbably for Albanians as I heard theare a lot of them there
why not.
DeleteThey have DY from PRN. This is W6 being desperate for more subventions so they are launching random routes like Finland from SKP.
DeleteLol, needed to google that, thought Turku was another Swedish destination, but Finland is really exotic. Good to visit Santa in the winter!
Deletelol at the haters
Deletethe random routes to SKP have proven very successful though, baby
DeleteBaby not all.
Deletejealous. worst day for haters i admit. i leave you in peace
DeleteYeah we are totally jealous of an airport whose growth happens thanks to massive subventions. There is a reason why W6 controls like 85% of local market.
DeleteDiazepam its free today dupla doza
DeleteDiazepam? Why? You do realize today's expansion is paid for by taxpayers? If market was that big or lucrative SKP would have more than a few legacy carriers.
DeleteThe "worried taxpayer" argument has got to be my favorite around here, considering most of the taxpayers money in this region are spent spot on. If there would have been some sort of ranking for public financing in the aviation sector, I believe the Macedonian subsidy model will be by far the best in terms of ROI and in line with the realities of the market.
DeleteAmen @14:06
DeleteIm from Macedonia.. no one checked or considered about our taxes, all have to pay. In the end we paid but also we benefit on something
Delete5mil plus $40k per route plus 13/9eur per pax for only 30 new jobs? That's over 200k subsidy per new job, and government doesn't get same benefits as when having a local airline, all the money goes out. They don't even get to say anything about needed routes to LHR, FRA, CDG, long haul etc. Pretty bad ROI.
DeleteAren't those subsidies dangerous for the economy?
DeleteI mean people will get used to them so much and when the government shuts the money tap, then all this artificial traffic will immediately drop.
You can't just keep finansing those routes and not focus on schools, roads, hospitals, etc.
Also MK is destroying itself by draining all the brains to West Europe.
Dunno, I find this all so forced and non organic.
*violina sviri
Delete5mil is the total budget over 3 years, there is no + plus Archimedes. There are many more jobs created by providing people mobility. 5mil is pocket money compared to the return, than among others THE STATE gains as a result of additional taxes it collects as a consequence of the initiative. Creating a money draining machine that a national airline would be in a Macedonian context for what? So maybe some Macedonian colleague of your can have some fake pride and pretend he is Sam Chui, while typing all this in his underwear from the child room of his parents apartment? Keep up the good work though.
Delete"There are many more jobs created by providing people mobility... THE STATE gains as a result of additional taxes it collects as a consequence of the initiative"
DeleteThat's exactly the same argument used to justify subsidies at OU, JU, YM, except that the government has leverage. SKP is now firmly under control of one foreign airline. State has no leverage and must do as W6 commands. That can turn to higher prices and less competition long term.
@15:49
DeleteThe leverage is higher in the stated examples but at a much higher cost. Macedonia has 3 shots at a domestic airline which went to ashes and burned a lot of money. Running a domestic airline is by default marred by local bureaucracy and politics. Investing large money into that is way to risky under those circumstances. 5 mil/3 years is not only good ROI as stated above, it's low risk. It is not a lot of money for any country. When circumstances do change, maybe the strategy will be different. There are countries in much better shape than Macedonia which don't have a national airline and do just fine.
On the other hand Macedonia does not have the market of OU and JU. OU caters a country with highly developed tourism while YU handles a concentrated market of almost 8 million people that relies upon 1 airport. The biggest driver for Macedonia is the diaspora and the type of development caters their needs. The needs will naturally change over time, but it is very childish to keep on having the discussion based the checklist of legacy airlines, connectivity to hubs and than comparing all airports with the same criteria. This is not directed at you @15:49 but at the general pattern here. Each airport and each catchment area has their specifics and it is upon the stakeholders (companies, authorities etc) to be creative and find the best model.
W6 does not command anything, they got some pocket money (in relation to what is a very costly business to run) and they maintain most of their flights with no state intervention on purely commercial basis. When W6 changes it behavior, the demand is already established and after an initial slump, things will naturally rebound. But the time for that discussion is just not here at the moment.
I also Googled Turku, thought it was Turkish city
DeleteThis is the last nail to the coffin (chances of LH ever stating flights to Macedonia).
ReplyDeleteFrom the other hubs, BA is also a mirage with the current visas, KLM/AF is the last light in the tunnel to have a decent connection to a major European hub but also highly unlikely.
ah darling. our gastos will never get in a plane other then Wizz. LH is a different world
DeleteThat event took place last summer season when EW cancelled SKP-MUC weekly route and opened PRN-MUC instead. It was very unexpected.
DeleteHowever, SKP/OHD cannot complain, really. W6 has completely transformed the market. It's not to everyone's taste, but the impact is significant and widely felt.
current situation: SKP: 46 destinations, 26 countries
ReplyDeletenot bad ;)
46 destinations, 11 of which are to Germany almosy 1 fourth!
DeleteWith Germany opening its doors to a new influx of ex-yu temporary workers next year, flights will be in high demand from Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia.
Delete40.000 Kosovo Albanians just got their German work visa approved. I see W6 expanding in PRN soon.
Deletetoday im selling Diazepam for free
ReplyDeleteI thougnt maybe they will open OSL/TRF from OHD instead of MXP. And a lot of Germanian routes, its too much even there are a lot of Macedonians there. I also didn't expected LCA and Turku.
ReplyDeleteMight serve the Albanian market
DeleteOHD-MXP has excellent potential with Albanian market.
DeleteSKP-TKU has excellent potential with Kosovan market.
George did his homework *clap
couldnt agree more with the above. i see Malpensa as a test balloon.. if MXP proves successful expect Rome, Bologna/Verona very soon
DeleteNo reason for them to add Italian routes from Macedonia when they could do open them from TIA. W6 are slowly expanding in Albania and Kosovo so expect Rome, Bologna, Verona very soon
DeleteBut from TIA there are already a lot of flights to Italy.
DeleteFrom TIA there are a lot of flights to Italy never less than 100€. With an ultra low cost airline such as Wizzair this market would be revolutionized.
DeleteFrom TIA, they probably won't get any subside
DeleteThey dont need to, Albania-Italy market is very profitable
DeleteWasn't the requirement for them to base a plane in Ohrid not Skopje? All Ohrid flights will originate from foreign destinations.
ReplyDelete5th plane is SKP, and maybe soon one in OHD (they will serve 7 routes)
Deletefresh MK Oct tourist stats (numbers form today):
ReplyDelete1.TR 2.GRE 3.SRB 4.BG 5.GER 6.CRO 7.ALB 8.CHINA 9.KS 10.USA 11.SLO 12.NED 13.UK 14.PL 15.ITA
CRO hype continues (+87%)
TR tourists in MK and SRB are in the negative the last few months
Wow congratulations Macedonia and Wizz.
ReplyDeletePet aviona na manje od 2 miliona ljudi. Previse se izlazu rizicima i puknuce kad tad cak i sa dosta nizim nabavnim cenama aviona. Nemojte da vas lazu da je njihova cena aviona 101 milion dolara.
ReplyDeleteDruže ja često letim i uvek su avioni puni,možda nekada bude slobodno 3-4 mesta
DeleteSKP is becoming the best connected W6 LCC city in the Balkans and almost as big as BUD excluding Greece and Turkey.
ReplyDelete¡Well done MK!
BUD is nowhere near the Balkans, what are you on boy?
DeleteI see OS is increasing SKP to double daily from 06.06. Wasn't it earlier before? I guess they will feel this expansion the most. It's tragic they can't operate double daily flights the whole year, it's VIE we are talking about.
ReplyDeleteits the first time they are double daily and the second summer season increasing flights by one weekly freq to 13 and now 14 in peak season. I would say OS survived somehow Wizz, but the pressure is ongoing (esp. on their base in VIE)
DeleteThis is a nice development but some people should not be carried away, we are talking about an airport that hasn't passed the 2 million mark.
ReplyDeleteTry again
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/12/skopje-airport-welcomes-two-millionth.html
I feel like these new routes are not going to work especially the Ohrid routes. I’ll give them max 1 year.
ReplyDeleteRoutes are being subsidised for a period of 3 years so they will operate until at least 2022.
DeleteSo W6 will be losing money for 3 years.
DeleteBravo Makedonia!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Sofia!
Haters in ruins. Such news must hit hard on a Monday =)
ReplyDeleteHappy Orthodox New Year everyone!
What is there to hate really? A ghettofabulous airline expanding at the expense of taxpayers. SKP is heading towards a total Wizz monopoly.
Delete:~D
DeleteQED. На апаратима!
Yeah, we are so jealous of Turku, how about you get a link to Paris or Amsterdam first.
Delete"Subsidiary and AOC scenarios are simply unsustainable". There you go, you answered the question "What keeps Wizz in SKP profitable?"
DeleteNot really.
DeleteBut to shed some light on the topic - there's a certain positive threshold in terms of incremental (!) profit and strategic impact necessary for such a scenario to be justified. It seems to be there is gross underestimation of costs and focus necessary to operate a subsidy / AOC, let alone the ripple effect of such a signal across EMEA should it come to light.
Now, if I caught your meaning well, let me remind you that all of the existing traffic is completely self-sustainable and profitable, and the amount of negative schedule adjustments (BCN, VXO) have been at an unprecedented level for a W6 operated base. The most stable base by far, excluding LTN.
When will TK launch the JFK route from SKP?
ReplyDeleteW6 is now 100% dominant in MK.
Not for another 100 years
Delete30th of February! :D
DeleteWHY NO PRAGUE, BUCHAREST, KIEV OR ISRAEL !?
ReplyDeleteThere is no market there. The new routes are not going to work.
DeleteThere is a HUGE market. Balkan and MK is cheap and its developing in fast pace at least the capital regia. The problem is no freedom of movement but dont forget EU citizens coming here and using these routes !
Delete1: no Prague, because Czech flew this July (not applicable with the tender)
Delete2: Kiev and Israel.how many times one should repeat Wizz can fly only to EU countries from MK
3: Bucharest: totaly unknown market so far