Legacy carriers operating at Skopje Airport are preparing for Lufthansa’s arrival on the market, with the German carrier to launch ten weekly rotations to the Macedonian capital in less than month, along with plans for further growth. Wizz Air dominates in Skopje, making competition between the legacy carriers more pronounced. Turkish Airlines is by far the largest among them. According to data provided by the European Statistical Office, it handled 158.955 passengers between Istanbul and Skopje in 2022. Despite its hub being east of the Macedonian capital, Turkish Airlines sees notable transfer traffic on the route to Western Europe, the United States and Canada, which are being targeted by Lufthansa as well.
Legacy carrier performance in Skopje, 2022
Commenting on Lufthansa’s upcoming arrival in Skopje, the General Manager of Skopje Airport operator TAV Macedonia, Metin Batak, said, “We are very happy over Lufthansa’s decision to enter the Macedonian market, by launching flights between Frankfurt and Skopje. This means that as of April, Skopje will be connected to Frankfurt, which is Lufthansa’s main hub and one of Europe’s most important transfer airports. Additionally, the high frequency of scheduled flights, seven days per week with double daily flights on select days, gives great flexibility for our passengers traveling to Germany and those connecting within Europe and North America. This new connection is especially important for passengers traveling for business purposes and it will give new options for air cargo transport to Germany, as the main trade partner of North Macedonia”. The German national carrier noted, “Lufthansa is offering Skopje for the first time from April 23 and will connect the capital of Northern Macedonia up to two twice a day. The flights are scheduled to be attractive for both business travellers and tourists. Lufthansa is strengthening its position in Eastern Europe by adding Skopje".
Notably, the majority of legacy carriers serving Skopje are either part of the Lufthansa Group or Star A
lliance, including Turkish Airlines, Austrian, Croatia Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines. Among the national carriers in the former Yugoslavia – Croatia Airlines and Air Serbia – the former maintains its dominance on the Macedonian market. The Croatian carrier sees a notable number of transfer traffic on the route. Its Star Alliance membership also provides benefits for passengers connecting through Zagreb onto Germany for long haul flights. It is the Star Alliance membership that also saw a number of travellers migrate from Adria to Croatia Airlines following the Slovenian carrier’s collapse in late 2019. Frankfurt is its number one Skopje transfer destination followed by the likes of Brussels, Amsterdam and Munich. On the other hand, the likes of New York, Ljubljana, Zurich and Amsterdam are among Air Serbia's top Skopje transfer destinations.
lliance, including Turkish Airlines, Austrian, Croatia Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines. Among the national carriers in the former Yugoslavia – Croatia Airlines and Air Serbia – the former maintains its dominance on the Macedonian market. The Croatian carrier sees a notable number of transfer traffic on the route. Its Star Alliance membership also provides benefits for passengers connecting through Zagreb onto Germany for long haul flights. It is the Star Alliance membership that also saw a number of travellers migrate from Adria to Croatia Airlines following the Slovenian carrier’s collapse in late 2019. Frankfurt is its number one Skopje transfer destination followed by the likes of Brussels, Amsterdam and Munich. On the other hand, the likes of New York, Ljubljana, Zurich and Amsterdam are among Air Serbia's top Skopje transfer destinations.
My guess is that LH will probably take the most passengers from Austrian.
ReplyDeleteAustrian will definitely be hurt by this
DeleteAustrian still offers more flights than Lufthansa.
DeleteOU is the candidate not Austrian
DeleteOh yes...everyone is a candidate but JU??? JU has been losing market share in SKP for a long time and this is going to hurt them more than anyone else. Everyone keeps saying how bad OU is, but yet according to the statistics in this article, they have carried almost twice as more passengers on the SKP route than JU.
DeleteYes, the statistics speak for themselves. Air Serbia has 10 points better load factor despite more capacity, more than 5 times the cargo, profit and a million passengers more.
DeleteAnd yes OU will be hit. If you bothered to read, Frankfurt is their top transfer destination from/to Skopje.
I see no issues hefe given a fact that Austrian and Lufthansa are two brands of the same company.
DeleteConsidering the constant strikes happening at Lufthansa Group hubs, I would avoid them.
ReplyDeleteWizz has little to be concerned about.
ReplyDeleteWizz dominates in SKP.
DeleteThey are parking fift a320/1
Now this Wizzair route to Frankfurt Hahn (which has nothing to do with Frankfurt and is +100 km away from it) will become completely redundant, as there would be a direct connection to the airport of the actual city of Frankfurt.
DeleteYou think gastos will suddenly decide to pay 500 euros to fly with LH? HHN will be just fine.
DeleteVery interesting numbers
ReplyDeleteWorst airline,for avoiding.Always late and very bad service.
ReplyDeletehaha!
DeleteAbsolutely correct. Flew recently with them to Cyprus. 2,5 hrs Delay on Board! No water or anything handed out to passengers. The Captain was not stupid enough to say, quote:“the caterer doesn‘t answer the phone“! Seats are cramped, crew unfriendly! Avoid Lufthansa !!!!
Deleteit doesnt happen with other airlines im sure ^^
DeleteHow come Air Serbia has so few passengers?
ReplyDeleteIn Q1 of last year their entire network was really impacted due to Covid. In February they had very few flights, especially to Skopje. In Q2 their flights were impacted by Skopje runway closure as some of their flights were scheduled during the time the airport was closed.
DeleteTrue I forgot about that
Delete@9.08 you can say that for every airline
DeleteYou literally can't. Not all countries had same covid travel rules, JU cut a lot last January/February and didn't offer too many transfers at the time. And not all airlines had scheduled flights during the part of the day airport wasn't working.
DeleteWhat equipment will Lufthansa be using on its Skopje flights?
ReplyDeleteDepends on the day but A319, A320 and A321 all scheduled
DeleteNice!
DeleteA-319/A320
Deletewow only Turkish recorded improved numbers
ReplyDeleteOnly just
DeleteDo remember there was Covid and its effects very much present in 2022.
DeleteAlso Macedonians could travel to much of Europe until April.
Deletewas meant to say *could not
DeleteTurkish performance is fantastic especially considering that Anadolujet started flights and new routes from secondary Turkish airports have been launched by Pegasus and Sun Express. Turkish carries a lot of transfers to secondary airports in Turkey, especially in summer.
DeleteHow many flights does Turkish Airlines have to Skopje?
DeleteDouble daily.
DeleteThanks. Is there potential for more?
DeleteBefore the pandemic they announced third daily flight but it didn't happen.
DeleteWhat equipment does TK use mostly to SKP? Do they send a lot of A321s?
DeleteMix of A321s and 738s.
Deleteits mostly A321s in the summer schedule. one two weekly are only on 73x
DeleteTurkish is big in SKP like all the Balkan any way. They ate the best legacy service I Europe in my opinion.
DeleteTHY has different configuration on A321s, yes they have more capacity then the B739 but it is almost the same, the good thing is that they dont send A21N which have under 180 seats i think
DeleteThis is just the beginning. Lufthansa will likely increase SKP to 14 weekly and launch Munich very soon.
ReplyDeleteWell they mid for the subsidy program for a reason.
DeleteI think we will see Eurowings launching flights rather than Lufthansa. And I believe LH was bidding on that tender on behalf of Eurowings.
DeleteI’m assuming there is a big play here for cargo opportunities into/out of MK, even if the passenger profitability isn’t huge.
ReplyDeleteIs there so much cargo from SKP? Although I do notice the general manager mentioning cargo for Lufthansa flights.
DeleteI am surprised that OU has 20 000 more pax. per year than YU.
ReplyDeleteIt had double the number of flights to SKP for most of the year.
DeleteCroatia Airlines has always been a better performer than Air Serbia in Skopje. The only exception was in 2021 due to Corona but it didn't stick.
DeleteA lot of people dislike flying with JU due to ATR operations (especially since they operated until recently with old ATRs that were falling apart inside) and I doubt many know they are now flying with newer planes. Also years ago they had lots of delays.
DeleteOU will probably loose good share of flights as Lufthansa will be preferred choice for Germany. On the other side, Albanian diaspora is strong in Croatia and Slovenia, so I guess there is a nice market for direct flights that will remain.
DeleteNot to forget that OU is starting Split-Skopje this summer, so that will probably reduce numbers somewhat on Zagreb route.
DeleteAnd at the same time JU will have 20+ new routes. So it will be interesting to see if JU will get close to OU this year in Skopje.
Delete9.28 Macedonia has it's own diaspora so do even go there as you always do!
Delete@9.26 don't forget that JU benefited hugely from people being able to fly from the US via Belgrade in 2020 and 2021. Transfer via Schengen Area was not allowed.
Delete@9.26 well not always but since they increased their number of flights. Before that they had a strange split schedule which made transfers very difficult. With party shifting their network to SPU ...
DeleteLOT carries the most passengers to Canada without doubt. Will be interesting to see how Lufthansa's arrival will impact them.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThe only important metric is yields.
ReplyDeleteYes, but passenger numbers are a good indication who is making money and who not.
DeleteNot always
DeleteIt’s actually Revenue per available seat kilometre or mile (RASK or RASM)…
DeleteWelcome LH!
ReplyDeleteWizz Air is the one that needs a shakeup. They are getting more and more expensive.
ReplyDeleteLufthansa will definitely hurt a few airlines. Also Lufthansa, like in many Balkan countries, is viewed as some divine being by many Macedonians even though the service is crap, they are often delayed and their hubs are on strike more and more often.
ReplyDeleteMan, they had like billion eur profit last year.
DeleteNot surprised by TK and OS to be honest. They really dominate the market after Wizz.
ReplyDeleteList shows how dominant Star Alliance is at Skopje.
ReplyDeleteStar is dominant at all ex-Yu airports more or less.
DeleteIt helps that the main diaspora centres of ex-Yu are in the three main Lufthansa group airlines - Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
DeleteSince New York is top US transfer route I think that there is more space for Air Serbia at Macedonian market, and also for EU transfers. Just to be more proactive and do much more marketing, which they seem to be lacking everywhere.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago there was an idea of TK operating some long haul flights from Skopje - to the US and Canada. Shame it never happened.
ReplyDeleteThat was a long shot. It was initiated by TAV but when TK calculated the numbers, it just didn't make sense.
DeleteTK are killing it with transfers to the US from SKP. I guess cheap prices and great connections are the reason. They fly to so many US cities with double daily frequencies.
DeleteI cannot believe someone is mentioning SKP-US flights when the airport doesn't have a link to AMS or CDG and not fully operate functionally in winter.
DeleteAgree. TAV should do more to engage Air France - Klm group
Delete@10.06 yes but you cant beat FRA's US network.
DeleteOne of the main reasons LH is starting flights is because there is room since Adria went bust.
ReplyDeleteI wonder to which airline the majority of passengers who used Adria for transfers migrated to
Deletethe two exyu airlines plus Austrian (according the same source in the article)
DeleteIt's fascinating that the largest airline in Macedonia (Wizz), which is bigger in terms of operations than some other regional national carriers basically has no transfer passengers.
ReplyDeleteTo me it is interesting how little passengers the legacies have that do handle transfer passengers.
Deleteno routes no pax. Wizz is doing exactly the opposite
DeleteJU is dropping the ball in Skopje.
ReplyDeleteThere's lots of room for improvement, that's for sure.
DeleteIt's actually quite sad that both JU and OU have such small numbers in SKP with so many unserved routes.
Deletethey should really switch to something else then ATR
DeleteWhy should they if there is no demand? Since when is SKP a legacy airlines specialist?
Deletelook at TK and OS (even LO)
DeleteIts not about being a legacy specialist. Its about others having 5 times more pax
DeleteThe biggest problem with JU is the departure/arrival times in and out of SKP. Arrival at 2 a.m. or departure at 4 a.m. are not the most convinient ones. OU was carrying the largest portions of transfers to the US via Frankfurt and that will be over in few weeks which means they will be hurt the most by LH.
ReplyDelete+1
Deleteagree with both of your arguments
DeleteBingo... this is the biggest reason JU is dropping the ball at SKP. Nobody wants to spend an entire day at BEG waiting for their onward connection. Even if they were less expensive than Turkish, I would choose Turkish over JU all day (even with the backtracking). Total travel time will always be less than JU.
DeleteWhat about Aegean? Do they carry many passenger, I doubt considering their frequency and small aircraft.
ReplyDeletewell they dont since they are not interested in transfer pax from SKP. Still puzzles me. They could for sure reach LOT numbers
DeleteAegean is adding a 3rd weekly flight to SKP this summer that does mean that they are performing well.
Deletenice one! I guess they are doing OK with O&D. Their flight arrives in ATH at 22.30-45h so it doesnt really connect to anywhere in West Europe only Middle East ...
DeleteThats basically what's they offering to Ex-Yu region good connections to the Middle East and Africa.
Deleteand thats the answer why they are so much behind Austrian in the exyu region
DeleteWould love to see these numbers for all main ex-Yu airports :)
ReplyDeleteYes please!
DeleteThey will all need to make themselves more competitive with good fares.
ReplyDeletethey are very competitive at the moment
DeleteLOT only 6k less then JU
ReplyDeleteAnd LOT didn't fly to SKP until the start of 2022 summer seaon!
Deletereally? I think they did
DeleteNope. Flights resumed in March.
Deleteit means for the rest of the year they should have at least reached 2019 numbers
Deletedidnt they pause during the reconstruction works as well?
DeleteGood to see that TK and OS are stronger (OS is -2.8% but we couldnt travel for the first few months) even with an ever expanding Wizz
ReplyDeletePegasus is not legacy but they also offer good transfer options. They would probably rank 3rd or 2nd in the table above
ReplyDeletestrange KLM is not considering SKP with such a demand for Amsterdam
ReplyDeleteKLM and also ESY - they are not looking for this opportunity.
DeleteI am more than certain that 2 fights a week even with a319 in case of Easyjet and probably 3/4 with e175 could be reality on AMS -SKP.
OU must have had a solid summer season because they barely had a flight in the beginning of '22
ReplyDeleteCompetetition and more options are generally good but as a passenger frequently flying from Frankfurt I can only recommend to avoid Frankfurt as a transfer hub. Even if there are no strikes (as mentioned before) it’s a logistical desaster. Especially if you have to cross Schengen border between flights or if you have a connecting flight from T2. Jams - at both passport control and additional security checks (T2) - are unpredictable but appear constantly. MUC should be better and BEG is now best in breed!
ReplyDeleteso why do you keep flying through FRA?!? not buying it at all... plus the best in breed
Delete@an22:35: because I’m living in Frankfurt.
DeleteAbout best of breed: BEG has modern luggage scanners where 3 passengers can put their belongings at the same time on the feeder and don’t need to unpack electronic devices from backpack. Furthermore passport control leaving BEG usually doesn’t take more than 5 minutes waiting time. Try that in Frankfurt T2, especially if you haven’t an EU-passport for biometric self service border crossing.
@9.11 turkish increase due to Australian Dispora flying as this is the only direct royte to SKP ftom Australia via SIN or KL or BKK. Otherwise if QR or FZ were then maybe TY numbers not that high. Not sure if this addition will help Australian travellers but SKP needs to bring others as its 85% WIZZ and thats means no real incentive in reducing tix prices. SKP is a capital and yet non existent in getting itself up their in the flying market
ReplyDeleteits 85% only in your illusion. see the article in this blog for the actual number.
DeleteAnd TK has nothing to do with Australia. It was double daily even before Corona....
Nonsence
10 flights a week with A319 is potentially up to 150 000 seats a year with full load.
ReplyDeleteThat is a serious number. So SKP is growing 20-30% this year.