NEWS FLASH
No airline has expressed interest in commencing flights between Sofia and Skopje despite the Bulgarian Prime Minister’s initiative for services between the two capitals to be launched by the start of the 2022 summer season, in late March. Talks have been held with several potential airline operators, however, none have been willing to commit to the short service. Despite media reports that the Bulgarian carrier Gullivair plans to introduce flights between the two cities, its CEO, Yanko Ivanov, has ruled out the notion, adding that the airline currently has no plans to link the two capitals.
I am not surprised, demand is just not there. Government should give subsidies to Wizz Air, it's like the only way they would add a new destination from SKP. :(
ReplyDeleteDemand will be there as Gullivair is starting New York flights in March/April, and Toronto flights a little after that. I'm betting the flight will be, for example, JFK - SOF - SKP and vice versa. Or maybe the ATR is used and lands in Sofia a couple of hours before the A330 to JFK is due for departure to make it a fast and easy,
DeleteThey have been starting US flights for years. And their CEO is quite clear they don't plan to fly to SKP
DeleteBoth capitals are barely 200km away, there are 2 daily bus connections and the market is way too small. Students from Strumica would also take the bus and use the highway from Sandanski to Sofia. I mean SKP is closer to SOF than say Veliko Tarnovo or Ruse. Plus, SKP market is mainly divided into 3 categories: Australia/US transfers, Albanian diaspora routes and some traffic to Turkey. Also, even if Wizz were to be subsidised, it would remain a huge challenge filling an A320 between both capitals. The sole connection that makes sense remains the railway one and the highway, which is a difficult terrain.
ReplyDeleteSOF has railway connections with all neighbouring capitals though, but the distances are obviously larger and bigger markets.
The problem is that when the pandemic started the regular bus line Skopje-Sofia was suspended and for two years already it has not been re-introduced. So at the moment (and as things stand for the foreseeable future) there is no other way to commute between the two cities except by car. I think the governments should see to it that a basic bus line continues prior to be thinking about a flight SKP-SOF. Of course the optimal solution for this route is a fast railway connection, but I'm not even gonna go into all the ways they've failed that project for 30 years...
DeleteTrue dat, sadly the bus service is not yet reintroduced. It is strange though because I was not able to find any official statement online regarding the no interest as the Macedonian PM was in Sofia for 2 days this week and this was discussed. Either way, Gullivair seems the perfect airline given its ATR fleet, which is the perfect aircraft for this route. I think this issue is currently on the trend and might change again. The problem with Bulgaria is that it is now quite busy with this NATO Russia BS that is consuming a lot of energy instead of focusing on many other important things.
Delete@14:20
DeleteWhat about Macedonian diaspora routes from SKP?
15:57, US and Australia mainly.
DeleteDo Macedonians do not travel to Europe?
DeleteI don't know, you tell me. I see no flights to main European airports. The few ones were recently cut by Wizzair to BCN, LCA and today to HAJ.
DeleteNo official statistics on the ДЗС website:
http://www.stat.gov.mk/OblastOpsto.aspx?id=25
The bus service between SKP and SOF ia alive and running. What are you all talking about?
DeleteWrong information
ReplyDeleteThere is now busses between the capitals
Bus with kaleia
ReplyDeleteFrom 01.11, the daily routes to Skopje will have two different departure times - at 07:00 and 17:30. From the same date, there will also be two daily buses from Skopje to Sofia, at 07:00 and 17:30. From today, you can also purchase online tickets again from www.getbybus.com!
Thanks and what happened with Matpu? They did have a bus connection everyday and the prices were quite cheap.
DeleteI know triangle flights are abandoned as an option for quite a lot of time...
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think JU will very easy get 5th freedom rights for BEG-LJU-SKP-SOF-SKP-LJU-BEG (triangle goes for LJU onward). Seems all parties involved will have their own interest cheaped in.
My 2 cents...
Yes, this is an interesting option as well. It might, however, mean that the JU ATR will take more time to rotate. The question is, will it be profitable enough?
DeleteWhy would JU want to do this?
DeleteBecause they have the adequate aircraft for this....the ATR.
DeleteWhy should JU operate loss making routes between other countries? There is a reason no one wants to fly then.
DeleteIt was my2cents who suggested this. Look at his comment 16:33h. I also think that JU has no reason to operate low-yielding routes. Plus, during the last 30 years various airlines have attempted to operate SKP-SOF but there was little or no interest, especially during the last couple of years for obvious reasons. In Nov 2020, there was a serious vandalism act in Ohrid regarding the Bulgarian tourists statue than perished during a boat excursion in 2009. Unfortunately, the interest has now decreased as people feel they are not welcomed. So let alone establishing any kind of routes :)
DeleteZosto nikoj ne razmisluva za linija Ohrid-OHD Sofia???
ReplyDeleteOhrid is sold as a package including other Macedonian towns by many agencies since many years again in collaboration with bus companies via SKP. 170€ package for 5 days. Again, the distance is around 300km and too close. Here is an example:
Deletehttps://www.bohemia.bg/p/Почивка-на-Охридското-езеро-с-автобус/6000002632/
In other words, locals are more interested in making more combinations SKP+OHD.
Seasonal SKP-Varna or OHD-SOF may have more interest.
ReplyDeleteSKP-VAR makes much more sense yes but not SKP-SOF.
Delete