The Macedonian government is planning to launch a tender to subsidise the introduction of new routes from the country with an adapted model compared to previous years, in an apparent attempt to diversify the country’s provision of airlines and destinations. Wizz Air has won all three previous tenders aimed at financing the launch of new routes and was the only carrier to apply. However, the Macedonian Minister for Transport and Communications, Blagoj Bočvarski, said a new subsidy model has now been drafted and is awaiting government approval. While Mr Bočvarski did not reveal details of the tender conditions, he noted the aim was to attract as many new airlines as possible.
Commenting on the matter, Mr Bočvarski said, “The new model will aim to include as many airlines as possible and not be tied to just one. We are also limiting the amount of subsidies as required and requested by the European Commission, all in order to enable as many destinations as possible for citizens and to develop air traffic”. He added, “Airlines that operate with larger aircraft, to main airports and offer more weekly flights will have an advantage. The contract will oblige airlines to continue to maintain flights on the route even after the subsidy contract ends”. Tender procedures are expected to be launched by the end of the year.
Wizz Air dominates Macedonia’s aviation sector, holding an over 60% share of all passengers in the country. The low cost carrier will reduce capacity at its Skopje base over the coming winter season with the airline to have fewer aircraft stationed in the city. The budget airline will maintain operations with four instead of five jets. Furthermore, it will primarily utilise Airbus A320 aircraft instead of the larger A321s which formed the bulk of its Skopje fleet up until now. As previously reported, the airline is also suspending several routes from the Macedonian capital this winter.
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Finally!
ReplyDeleteMaybe it will be aligned with the Croatia Airlines' plan
Delete*The New Croatia Airlines' Century*
"Airlines that operate with larger aircraft, to main airports and offer more weekly flights will have an advantage"
ReplyDeleteThey could not make it more clear that they don't want Wizz Air.
Well, for European flights they can't get bigger than A321 which W6 flies on, but for other two criteria I fully agree.
DeleteOh dear Wizz will not like this. Don't be surprised if one or two of the based planes end up in Abu Dhabi or Saudi as a result if this. They do not like to be challenged.
ReplyDeleteHighly likely. I remember how they threatened the government when an agreement was concluded for Ryanair to launch flights to Skopje.
DeleteThreatend the gov? Koje gluposti procitas. They simply started 4 new routes and thats it. Threatend the gov yeh sure... kaubojski film
Delete^ You are extremely naive.
Delete@11.38 you are rekla kazala
DeleteInteresting but risky in my opinion. We saw what they did in Sarajevo.
ReplyDelete✔️
DeleteLol and what did they do?
DeleteThis base wasnt perform7ng well but the fanboys cant hack it
Deleteif they fight for Tuzla which is less significant then Skopje then even more so in Skopje
DeleteI remember when this government came to power they also waned Wizz out. They repeated the tender for subsidies three times on a technicality that Wizz didn't spell the street where the ministry is located correctly. Then their attitude suddenly changed (assuming someone got a pink envelope). I'm interested to see how this plays out now.
ReplyDeleteTotally rubbish.what you wrote
DeleteWizz will switch to PRN.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of subsidy model will they make? The previous tenders were tailored towards Wizz so I assume they won't me using the same model.
ReplyDeleteThey won't use the same model. It says in the first sentence and the minister also said they will award the money differently.
DeletePls flydubai,Qatar Airways,Wizz Air Abu Dhabi!
ReplyDeleteNo demand for all these. Max is 2 weekly by flydubai. Nothing more.
DeleteGame on!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Skopje is next, after Sarajevo
ReplyDeleteIs Wizz Air so weak that it can't sustain operations from Skopje just because it misses out on some subsidies one year? Is it that weak that it can't compete with a single airline from SKP?
DeleteI can't believe Macedonia doesn't have a single airline.
ReplyDeleteBut it is after we let them ruin our businesses!
The Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency together with the government purposely shut down MAT in order to give Wizz Air complete control of the market. The head of the Civil Aviation Agency was later awarded for his work with a position in Brussles.
Delete+100000
DeleteIs there at least one Macedonian airline at the moment?
DeleteNo
DeleteWizz Air ;))))
DeleteAviatika with one 737-300 but this is a lessor .
Also swiss Chair Airlines controlled by kosovars.This company is named after Chair in Skopje! And this is true!😉
It will be a real shame if Wizz leaves.
ReplyDeleteVery pathetic people!
It is pathetic if an airline leaves a market from which is has 30 routes just because it does not get subsidies one year or is not the only airline to get subsidies.
DeleteIt would be nice if Ryanair launched 5-10 routes!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey wanted to 8 years ago. Got chased away by Wizz which requested the government to put a stop to it.
Most people here cheer against Wizz, and cheer for Ryanair- both are more or less the same
Delete@10.40 and the only aurlines they can afford
DeleteHaving to award subsidies to airlines shows that all they are doing is creating fake demand. Let the market sort itself out and see just what airlines can operate profitably to SKP.
ReplyDeleteI think this is the right way to go to avoid a Slovenia-like scenario (which is also subsidizing all airlines that are flying there). The value of the subsidies is not so high in MKD and at least they have quite a large Wizz network. The question is how much of this traffic is being generated by locals and how much by people from Kosovo.
DeleteThe subsiudies are very little and used only on a couple of routes. They are used on Billund,Malta,Vaxjo an Turku. I noticed especially that flights from Billund and Turku are much cheaper compared other destanations. My who flew last week from SKP to EIN in an A321 and the flight was full to the last seat. And for the christmas period flights between EIN-SKP cost €395 without any lugggage. Even if 95% of the routes are profitable, Wizzair will even close a route that made 1 euro loss. Probably nowadays they aren't satisfied with a small profit. That's why they closed the base in SJJ.
DeleteSJJ was closed because W6 still gets well paid in SKP with some hefty subsidies. Also, your example with EIN is not the best because many people avoid AMS at the moment and SKP, I suppose, never had a connection with AMS to begin with.
DeleteHaha and what about the two exyu dinosaurs dependant on state subs?
Delete@10.27 pa ti nemas blage veze. WIZZ hasnt received a penny from SKP since 2020
DeleteThe same goes for Brussel Chaerloi
Delete@11:28 - as usual Macedonians are specialists about everything. You missed the news, darling. There is an agreement with the government and Wizzair and they are still receiving good subsidies. This is why you are not going to see any cancelled flights in SKP:
Deletehttps://meta.mk/en/the-government-of-north-macedonia-will-continue-subsidizing-wizz-air-after-the-flights-resume/
3 mio for 3 years for 30 routes? Thats peanuts. the lowest subs in whole exyu
DeleteThere is no end to corruption, at least they had started a national carrier.
ReplyDeleteLufthansa,KLM,Air France,SAS,Swiss,Finnair,ITA would be nice to come!
ReplyDeleteIs there a real demand for a bigger plane?
ReplyDelete"Bigger airplane" will only be a factor if two airlines apply for the same route (will not happen).
DeleteI'm a bit anxious with the government and subsidy plans. They subsidized GullivAir and it lasted a month.
ReplyDeleteGullivAir was subsidized by the Macedonian government.
DeleteIt didn't make any sense.
As far as I know, the passengers were mostly Macedonian students for Sofia.
Another topic is that GullivAir failed!
Lasted a month because planes were extremely empty on both sides. After all, you perfectly know how "welcome" Bulgarians are in Skopje and the country in general.
DeleteIn spite of everything many Bulgarians now visit Serbia because they moved on and Croatia this year thanks to Ryanair. Hoping to see connections to Bosnia and flights restored to Ljubljana as in 2019.
Interesting is to see Aegean success!
Delete
ReplyDeleteSorry but Ryanair have way more experience and maturity compared to Wizzair. Yes, they do have their ego and selfishness sometimes but at least are a punctual and eat more serious airline. They seem to have launched their summer 2023 timetable this weekend on many routes and it's high time we see them in Ljubljana and Sarajevo.
Wizzair have not been successful in the region at all and seem to be concentrating on where the government money is such as Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, which of course I don't blame them for.
When the government helps, you can even fly with empty seats.
I'm delighted the gov is taking this step. Wizz has a monopoly and they need to understand that they are not the only one in the market. People are sick and tired of their severe delays, cancellations, rude customer services etc etc. It's time to teach them e lesson.
ReplyDeleteHaha the subs scheme doesnt prevent Wizz to apply and in the end its gonna be the only airline that applies (again)
ReplyDeleteWizz air sucks so much... this winter I was supposed to fly them for the first time to Sarajevo. They switched my flights to Tuzla and to two days earlier. I decided I wanted to cancel my flight, on the website they were just giving out wizz credits. I called them and a lady said she would cancel everything and I would get my money back. This was about 12 days ago, today I received a weird e-mail from them with a new invoice with some random nbers not corresponding with what I paid. Still havent received anything, but my water tells me that I am not getting my whole payment back... a joke of an airline, never again for me and my family.
ReplyDeleteWhich one on the list of the top unserved routes from Skopje is Ljubljana?
ReplyDeleteWizz air is present in SKP for 10 years now as the routes they operate are profitable. They have network of over 30 destinations. 10% of the route are subsidized( not at the moment as they are suspended). Like every airline, they adjust the network during winter season. Another airline is welcomed to apply for the new subsidies, but it’s not like we have tons of destinations to choose as simple there is no demand to fill BIGGER planes than A321. No matter who will receive the money( not so substantial), probably they need to give it back in a form of corruption. We know where we live, right?
ReplyDeleteDude, Wizz has made cuts everywhere in the region. The exception is of course OTP because of Blue Air. SKP is untouched because they are being paid by the government. The only, major demand in SKP are the predominantly gasto routes and traffic from Albania.
DeleteTraffic from Albania?
DeleteAhahah
DeleteAnonymous 12:29,
DeleteGood morning to you too.Wizz flies from Tirana to nearly 40 destinations.As a local from Ohrid, i have more options (and shorter travel time considering the quality of the roads to SKP/TIA, even with border check!) from TIA than SKP - IF i can't fly from my local airport.And you were saying people from Albania get to choose a minimum of 6 hrs road to fly from SKP?
Some flew when BCN was working, and some from OHD to LTN/MXP and that's it.
Anon 22:59 here, it was for 13:27 Anon :)
DeleteWizz has also flights from the newly built Kukes Airport (KFZ), four destinations in the moment...
Deleteall 4 cancelled during winter
DeleteBring back FZ and QR. That way the Australian Macedonian diaspora has more options to come to Macedonia and vice versa. Now its simply Turkish as more viable. Know flights were limited (FZ was 2 days/week and QR was 4 or 5 flights per week) but opens Arab and externally Australian market moreso. Otherwise Ryanair should be the next real option
ReplyDeleteIn some better news for Macedonian aviation Tui will fly LGW-OHD in addition to MAN-OHD next year.
ReplyDeleteThey must have been satisfied with their bookings using Wizzairs flight from Luton this summer except for some last minute schedule changes obv
DeleteDoes this sound like Open Balkans kind of thing - Air Serbia advancing to NMK market?
ReplyDeleteRyanair to BCN, LJU, PFO, VIE, Air France to CDG and maybe Luxair to LUX would be great
ReplyDeleteLG to LUX? Really?
ReplyDeleteFunny how nobody here understands that the tender is not anti Wizzair only because its not limited to one winning company like in the past
ReplyDeleteWizz is likely to be the airline with the most applications (nr of routes).
Wizz is blessing for SKP and MK.
ReplyDeleteWe have never been connected better with EU.
I would not like at all the SJJ scenario in SKP, that would be a disaster.
And yes, diversifying is great and ESY is best positioned to do that in SKP and make some balance with Wizz.
To FRA Lufthansa
ReplyDeleteTo Zurich, Swiss, Helvetic
To Amsterdam KLM, Transavia
To Paris CDG Air France
To London LHR British Airways
To Ljubljana?
To Dubai Flydubai
To Doha Qatar Airways
All Skp needs is 2 flights daily to FRA, VIE & IST each. So subsidize LH, AA & TK, all others are welcome and optional.
ReplyDeleteA great OPPORTUNITY for PRAGUSA.ONE !!!
ReplyDelete