The MAT affect 
The Macedonian charter airline Skywings International (operating under the name Airlift Service), which took over the bulk of passengers from MAT Macedonian Airlines following its demise, has suffered a similar fate. The airline owes some 133.000 Euros to the Macedonian Flight Control Agency, the “Kanal 5” network reports. Gzime Asani, a spokesperson for the country’s Flight Control Agency, said that they took passengers into account when they made the decision to ground the carrier, “We offered Skywings various arrangements to pay off their debt in the past year but the airline has not made any contributions”.
Many Skywings passengers due to fly out of Dusseldorf and Zurich have been stranded at the airport as their flights have been cancelled. Skywings believes that they will be able to resume flights next week. Until then, Mat Airways is the only Macedonian based airline operating flights out of Skopje.
This also is a proof that the aviation management in the ex-Yugoslavia needs to get rid of
ReplyDeletebalkan mentality and to train as real qualified, westernized and experienced Managers.
Oh no, this leaves MAT Airways as the airline with the worst livery in EX-YU!
ReplyDeleteWhat about Montair?
ReplyDeleteIt's so unfortunate that the country does not have it's own 'scheduled' carrier. Passengers will have to rely on other carriers who fly to MKD to take them to their destinations.
ReplyDeleteHopefully MAT Airways comes out on top and creates itself as a 'long term' airline for Macedonia.
OT:
ReplyDeleteYesterday was the last BA LHR-BEG flight... From today, BA is codesharing with MA on BUD-BEG route: MA460/BA4466 and MA461/BA4467.
And their second last flight (on 29/11) was cancelled! Would have been funny, and ironic, if they cancelled their 'last' flight also.
ReplyDelete@ Jackie Chan
ReplyDeleteI have never seen the Montair livery. Does the airline even exist? Any link to check their livery?
But I surrender to your superior knowledge. Dubrovnik Airline (to their management: if you won't use the plural Airlines then at least add "The" in front -- stupid) does have an embarrassingly horrible livery. If that's the best livery they can come up with I dread to think how innovative the rest of the business is. Such a beautiful city, it's a crime to be associated with such an awful livery.
Going forward, I propose cities copyright their names to prevent such blatant abuses.
What a mess in the Macedonian skies; whole bunch of some incompetent airlines that have more names than airplanes. It seems as a trend there for anyone with some cash to start an airline and try their luck in the aviation industry.
ReplyDelete@Bruce Lee
Totally agree with you about the Dubrovnik Airline's logo. The picture of Dubrovnik on their airplanes looks more as some kind of a patch. It gives you an impression of a very cheap and trashy destination. The city of Dubrovnik should definitely prohibit them from using its name. In general, all Ex-Yu airlines' liveries with the exception of Montenegro Airlines look awful. Squares and circles…give me a break. Even my 4-year old can do it better. No creativity at all.
yes. that's why JAT's livery in the old days was the best. after that, nothing (mrka kapa, što bi se reklo). though, they did have a good idea back in 2006 to paint all Jat's planes in colors of Serbian flag as a new livery
ReplyDelete^
ReplyDeleteSeriously - all of the airlines in the ex-YU are at their KNEES, and all you id!ots can do is talk about the paint job on the side of the planes?! Are you all under the age of 10?!
Skywings was from the very first flight a real mess.Every third flight was cancelled, there was no timetable, delays, tickets were sold through suspicious dealers..Horor at all!!
ReplyDeleteI am very happy that they are grounded, except for the people who will lose their jobs.
Now is the time for MAT to acquire the market, but only with a good product.
Btw. from 11.12 they are commencing a new route Skopje-Maribor.
@ ANONYMOUS
ReplyDeletewe all know that (well, i at least), but we just need sometime not to talk about shit companies here are in. and livery just came as a nice topic
@Bruce Lee:
ReplyDeleteHere you go with Montair
http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/uploaded-images/2010-7/22/96283.jpg
They operated Skopje-Tolouse for a while. Then we've got no more news from them. As per August 2010 information, they do have 2 MD82 at their disposal.If I was not mistaken, one was stored in Zadar and sold on eBay for USD320,000 this summer.
Montair has never landed in Skopje.
ReplyDeleteNeither MD-82 nor livery nor Toulouse:-)
It was only a registered and nothing more.
@ last ANONYMOUS
ReplyDeleteNo one here said Ex-Yu airlines are prospering as neither many other European airlines, so please spare us from your "enlightenment". Calling others here by idiot, tells enough about your age.
IN007 Montair has a livery, the plane was painted in Dubrovnik and still flying for Dubrovnik Airline with Montair livery it will be alsmost a year flying like that ...
ReplyDeleteWas the Belgrade to London run really that bad for BA? If I remember correctly their ticket prices were similar to Jat's (expensive), by canceling the service aren't you just giving the line all to Jat? I would've thought alot of business travelers would be using that line.
ReplyDeletePeter from Sydney:
ReplyDeleteBritish Airways flew five times per week to Heathrow, not Luton. In summer the flight would go daily where as Jat would go nine times. I believe that the afternoon flights would go at around 18:00 and coming back at 01:00 which means that Jat was dominating on that route from before. I guess that not many passengers used Britsh Airways on their way to North America as Serbs require a transit visa for the UK.
Now we are left with daily flight to Heathrow on Jat and four times a week on Wizzair to Luton.
I suppose thta the flight to Luton will go daily soon especially since the UK plans on removing the visas for Serbian citizens in 2011.I believe only then we could see British Airways come back.
@ last Anonymous
ReplyDeleteWizz will go to daily BEG-LTN should UK abolish visas. also might Easy come if that happens with BEG-LGW route. but i don't think BA will come back, since they prices were slightly higher than JAT's
@anonymous
ReplyDeleteWhere did you read UK is planining to abolish visas next year????
Yeah where did you get that information? I've been following that ''visa politics'' of UK lately and that doesn't happen so easy. The Britons are very sceptical on visa abolishing, and the Serbs haven't ''presented'' thems so well for the past year since they got visa abolishment for Schenghen Areas.
ReplyDeleteThe real reason the UK is hesitant to abolish visas for Serbian citizens is because of gypsy's and those in Kosovo who hold Serbian passports. This is not opinion, this is fact.
ReplyDeleteJust go to Seven Sisters in London and you can see the lovely contribution of the Albanian community.
This doesn't suprise me. When will we see a REAL airline come out of the former Yugoslav Republics, and I mean all of the republics.
ReplyDeleteAdria by far is the best airline to come out of Yu-Demise,
ReplyDeleteAs a frequent Adria flyer u can say the service has always been exceptional as far as them being in debt that is a shame but I hope this airline can restructure and not keep expanding so fast and accruing more debt, over the years ive flown many other Balkan airlines which made me wonder if these aircraft were air worthiness missing panels wiring inside the interiors,with Adria I've never felt uncomfortable flying from my experience modern aircraft ,the crews have always been professional and courteous. It would be a blow to the Balkan area if goes out of business .