Wizz Air plans further Skopje expansion

New Wizz Air flights to Skopje in 2013
Wizz Air plans to introduce flights from Skopje to Brussels, Rome and Barcelona next summer season, depending on interest shown by passengers. The low cost airline will open a base in the Macedonian capital from October 28 and launch flights to Eindhoven, Bergamo, Memmingen, Basel Mulhouse, Dortmund and Malmo, in return for 3.5 million euros in subsidies. However, some media outlets have criticised the government, arguing that the subsidies are too high for only six new destinations. In its defence, the government claims that Wizz Air’s entry onto the Macedonian market will stimulate the economy by bringing 400.000 new passengers and employing some 300 locals.

Tickets for Wizz Air’s new flights from Skopje, which launch in autumn, are already up for sale, with prices starting at nine euros. "For us it is important to provide links for our citizens to European hubs at cheap prices. I expect that the offered locations will be quite attractive to the public”, Mile Janakieski, the Macedonian Minister for Transport and Communication said. The head of Skopje Airport says that the subsidies are a win win situation for all sides - Wizz Air, Skopje Airport and the government.

The low cost Eastern European airline inaugurates its new flights from Skopje on October 28 with services to Dortmund and Eindhoven. On October 29 flights will be launched to Malmo, Bergamo and Memmingen while flights to Basel Mulhouse launch on October 30. Click on the links for more flight details. The already existing services from London and Treviso continue as normal. The destinations differ slightly to those Wizz Air operates from its Belgrade base, from which the airline flies to Stockholm, Gothenburg, Memmingen, Dortmund, London, Rome, Eindhoven, Malmo and Charleroi.

Comments

  1. Anonymous11:11

    Great for SKP! But why is there no more expansion from Belgrade? ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:45

    yeh that what i wanna know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:13

      Because BEG dont pay subsidies...

      Delete
  3. Anonymous12:09

    I think they wanna make max income with one a/c based in BEG. Maybe after that theyll base one more with few more destinations, who knows.. SKP will make revenue for now, because of subsidies..
    Honestly, I dont know which new destination they could introduce from BEG. They would increase LTN and MMX to daily, introduce BCN and/or MAD, SAW and maybe add some sunny destinations.. thats all they could do, nothing else..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:57

      They should introduce BVA - huge market there from BEG, with currently at least two dailies year-round charing steep rates. BGY/MXP is always an option, perhaps as FCO, 2x weekly.

      By the way, I believe FCO route is suffering for the lack of frequencies. It is a short flight, but passangers lack the option of staying just a day or two, i.e. using this route for a day trip or a business meeting.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:25

      Actually they could double the destinations from BEG!
      Never heard of MAD,BCN?

      Spanair flew to BCN with A320/A321!
      Wizz could do the same...

      Then they could increase frequencies ...
      LTN and Rome,
      add Milano,Hamburg-Lubeck..
      if they can make Memmingen succesful
      which is a shithole far out from Munich in the middle of nowhere then they also can make Lubeck work.. trust me!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:25

      The funny thing is that although Wizz flights to Rome are always full they still are no competition for Alitalia.
      Even at days where you have as well flights by Wizz AND Alitalia the later frequently upgrades from A320 to A321!

      That shows that there is still enough room for expansion.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous12:37

    Yeah it is weird because their numbers from BEG are amazing. All flights have over 150 pax onboard both outbound and inbound.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:48

    Well there is open skies with Russia so they could launch a flights to there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Praguc14:19

      I am not sure there is an OPen Skies, i just think there was a revision of a previous agreement regarding the flight numbers, but that its still limited to one carrier per country.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:34

      Yes, thats an open skies agreement, nothing is limited now.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous13:36

    what is going on in Skopje Airport the last 6 weeks this placed has added 7 new destination starting in October great news 9 euros each way wow !'''

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:27

      Skopje even gets more destinations than Belgrade in even shorter time

      Delete
  7. Anonymous13:51

    don't know about this as well i have a contact in Singapore Airlines In Sydney a rumor is coming out Fly Scoot could be going to Skopje Airport as of next summer the deal was done last month as the Macedonian delegation was visiting Singapore to sign the Air Agreement. I can't see this happening but who knows with subsidies been offered i guess anything is possible.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous14:48

    I just wonder if Wizz goes SKP to BEG OR SKP to ZAG will we see JAT and Croatian at Skopje Airport.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SuisseOuest09:12

      Wizz will never go double daily on these short routes and without that they cannot compete with JU/OU. And the prices for JU/OU flights are cheap enough (~100eur roundtrip)

      Delete
  9. Anonymous14:49

    Well Macedonia doesn't have an airline so the Government can throw in the subsidies to make Skopje more attractive not just for Macedonians but for our neighbors as well.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous15:27

    Great news for SKP! The country is moving in the right direction.

    There's demand for a daily SKP-SKG flight, but the neighbors to the south would never let that happen. Shame!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:58

      Oh, come on. That would be like Zagreb-Trieste or Belgrade-Szeged. Two hours by car, not even 200km. Actually, if you take a car at the very moment you need to be at the airport for check in, you will actually get to your destination before the plane takes off, and that's not taking into account the time you need to get from the city to the airport.

      Neighbors to the south are actually showing some wisdom for a change if they're blocking it - I'm not sure though who would be crazy enough to fly that route.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous03:03

      Driving from Skopje to Thessaloniki is closer to 4 hours rather than 2. Plus, there's no public transportation (trains stopped about two years ago) connecting the two cities either. I could make the same argument for SKP-SOF. If the fares are reasonably priced, and there's enough frequency, I have no doubts they would be flying full.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous15:54

    Have you guys considered that state subsidies are illegal under EU law? This is going to turn very interesting when DG Competition gets involved for the distortion of competition in the European Common Aviation Area.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:10

      This is Macedonia my friend who gives a S about the EU and by the time we go in there the EU will be in the history books

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:00

      State aid is perfecly fine by the EU if you offer it without discrimination, national or otherwise. So, if there was a public competition open for everybody, and I believe it was discussed here, DG COMP will have no objections - if MK was part of the EU, that is.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:34

      Swedish airports like skavsta/Stockholm and Gothenburg city airport are doing the same-the county is paying/lowering the taxes for ryanair and wizz-no problem for Eu at all!!!

      Delete
  12. Anonymous18:43

    What BEG could get in the future is:
    1. Geneva by easyJet
    2. Barcelona and Madrid by Wizz, but preferably Vueling/Iberia
    3. Lubeck by Wizz or any other LCC
    4. Lisbon by TAP or esayJet
    5. Sabiha Gokcen by some Turkish carrier or maybe Wizz
    6. ORY or BVA by Wizz or easyJet obviously
    7. Venice with any LCC carrier
    8. Sofia by Bulgaria Air
    9. Moscow with any Russian carrier - Transaero, S7, UtAir..
    10. St. Petersburg by S7

    Of course, there are a lot more possible destinations, but I just wanna stay real. For now. LoL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:34

      why is it always people have to commend about what is happening in belgrade. its not that important what happens in belgrade. its not the capital of the balkans..

      Delete
  13. Anonymous19:39

    Skopje gets more destinations than Belgrade in even shorter time?

    This is a clear signal from Wizzair to everyone
    that the airports that pay subsidies
    will be prefered before the other ones who do not
    or less!

    Being profitable is not enough.
    I think Wizzair is copying the Ryanair model of business.

    Ryanair made themselves a lot of enemies with this tactics.
    If this really is a model for the future?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous23:34

    Not sure if BEG is quite profitable for Wizz at the moment. They cut frequencies starting September 2012 and during the winter most of the destinations will be operated only 2x weekly. So BEG people will fly from SKP to FMM or MMX or for 9,00 instead of 47,00 EUR ;) The city deserves new routes as it seen quite a few during the past years. It might even surpass LJU figure wise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:02

      Well, i doubt Belgraders would fly out of Skopje (no disrepspect, but Budapest is much closer, or at least it seems closer to me) ;), or Timisoara... The market Skp can count on is Macedonia itself, Kosovo, and maybe south Serbia (but there is a competition from Sofia airport)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:54

      Sure, Southern Serbia will have a decent alternative in SKP, I would actually go a step further by saying that everything south of Niš, maybe even Niš itself, will prefer SKP both because of distance from the airport and the prices. But, going from BEG to SKP takes at least 5 hours - and that if you're lucky - that's a bit too much.

      As for frequencies from BEG, they are not finalized. It is highly unlikely they will leave their a/c on the tarmac underutilized - no LCC does that. Perhaps they are negotiating new routes...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous02:06

      i have seen people from South Serbia on all my Wizz flights from SKP to Treviso

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:22

      Funny Macedonians, I'm just waiting on the comments like ''SKP is the new hub of ex-yu/Balkans'' xD *without that people actually knows what a hub means* Oh my dear old ''Yugoslavs'', pathetic we all are to get some attention...

      Delete
  15. Anonymous05:31

    Good on Macedonia I am happy that something has been done after all these years keep up the good work let's expand on what we have now

    ReplyDelete

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