New York remains Skopje’s busiest unserved route

The United States was Skopje Airport’s busiest unserved market during the last normal year for commercial aviation in 2019, while New York was the Macedonian capital’s top unserved route over the past two years. Over 19.000 people either originated or departed between Skopje and New York City’s airports in 2019, according to global data provider OAG, with Chicago following as the seventh busiest unserved destination. Istanbul was used as the primary point for transfers between New York and Skopje, from which passengers connected onto Turkish Airlines. It was followed by Vienna and Belgrade. Overall, the Turkish carrier was the single most utilised airline for flights between Skopje and the Big Apple, accounting for 39% of the market. It was followed by Austrian Airlines with a 23% market share and Air Serbia with 17% of transfers.

Skopje Airport has previously attempted to secure flights to New York. In 2017 it submitted a joint proposal with the Macedonian government for Turkish Airlines to introduce services to the United States via Skopje. Macedonia and Turkey have an Open Skies Agreement in place with both the United States and Canada, which permits for a Turkish carrier to be issued fifth freedom rights by regulators from all parties involved. At the time, Turkish Airlines said it would study the proposal and expressed interest in the potential service. "Turkish Airlines is one of the world's leading carriers. We believe that there is a chance that, for the first time, Skopje could have an intercontinental service that would cover the needs of Macedonians living abroad. It would also greatly increase passenger numbers at Skopje Airport and would help turn it into a regional hub", the Macedonian government said at the time.

Overall, 48.525 passengers flew between Skopje and points in the United States in 2019. New York retained its position as the busiest unserved route from the Macedonian capital in 2020 as well, although with significantly fewer passengers due to the coronavirus pandemic. Unlike many in Europe, Macedonian citizens are permitted entry into the States with a valid visa but must not have transferred through a country that is a member of the Schengen Zone. Prior to the pandemic, Skopje Airport’s operator said, "As TAV Airports, we are actively promoting both Skopje and Ohrid airports in various fields in order to attract new airlines and expand the route network and passenger numbers. We have always established close relationships with our airline clients through our world-wide airport operations. This is also the case in Macedonia, and we are ready to provide the utmost support to an airline which would consider flying transatlantic from Skopje. Skopje Airport is operationally capable to handle such transatlantic flights and ready to support carriers which would consider operating. A nonstop flight to North America would lead to additional feeder flights from the Balkan region to Skopje. The airport would attract many passengers from surrounding countries".

If you would like to find out the full list of the busiest unserved routes from Skopje, of which two of the top ten are in the United States, five in Europe, two in Australasia and one in Asia, subscribe for this week’s EX-YU Aviation Premium Newsletter here.