Turkish eyed as Macedonia’s national airline

Turkish Airlines a favourite as Macedonia searches for a national carrier

Turkish Airlines is the frontrunner in becoming Macedonia’s new national carrier. It comes a week after the Macedonian government announced plans to invite an established foreign airline to become the country’s new flag carrier. In 2012, the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency confirmed Turkish Airlines had been granted “regular carrier” status, thus awarding it numerous privileges over other airlines operating to the country. Turkish Airlines, which runs double daily flights to Skopje, has exclusivity over other airlines in selecting destinations as well as landing and handling fee exemptions at Skopje and Ohrid airports, according to the Agency. Turkish Airlines is the only to have been granted the status of a regular carrier in Macedonia since the demise of MAT Macedonian Airlines in 2009.

The Turkish-based TAV, which runs Macedonia’s two international airports, is believed to be strongly lobbying for Turkish to base an aircraft in Skopje. The CEO of TAV Airports, Sani Sener, has said the company was not looking at establishing its own airline. However, Mr. Sener added, “At the moment, and for the foreseeable future at least, we prefer cooperating with airlines to increase passenger traffic at our airports. Indeed, we have an excellent relationship with Turkish Airlines, a major European carrier that is growing at an impressive pace”. Earlier this year, TAV said Macedonia was in need of a national airline if its airports are to maintain the impressive passenger growth they have seen so far this year. The growth is being attributed primarily to low cost airline Wizz Air which has two aircraft based in Skopje.

The Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency has previously said Turkish Airlines would easily receive a permit to become the country’s national carrier. “Turkish Airlines would have to apply for a permit, submit a business plan and choose whether they would want to be a charter or scheduled carrier. Turkish already operates services to Macedonia and is a renowned world carrier. They have a strong presence in the region as well”, the former head of the Agency, Zoran Kristevski, said. He added that if Turkish Airlines were to apply for national carrier status, the Agency would follow European Union regulations and procedures. In May, Turkish Airlines ruled out any interest in acquiring stakes in carriers in the former Yugoslavia following its experience with B&H Airlines several years ago and said it prefers organic growth to equity investments.

Comments

  1. Analogno ovoj ideji bilo bi zanimljivo videti u praksi kako avioprevoznik sa AOC iz Mauritanije postaje nacionalni avioprevoznik u Danskoj npr. I da se primene pravila EU, kako se u ovom tekstu navodi. Kod nas su pojedinci stvarno budale. Pa kakav je to strani nacionalni prevoznik? Jedno je da se kaze da se trazi kompanija koja bi bazirala vazduhoplove na nekom aerodromu, kao npr Air Arabia u Egiptu ili lcc po evropi a drugo je ovo sto oni misle. A to drugo bi trebalo da ima domaci AOC , vlasnika domaceg porekla ili bar listiranog na domacoj berzi, vecinski domace posade, domace ime.itd
    Za one koji ne znaju Turkish nije domace ime u Makedoniji jos od kada je 1912 Zeki Pasa poflautao Stepi Stepanovicu. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:11

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:43

      Kad vec spomenu Mauritaniju danas sam leteo iz NKC ka CAS sa L6 i iskreno veoma zanimljivo iskustvo.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous11:05

    I dont know if turkish airlines is really the best idea. I think they more want to take passangers to their hub in Istanbul than to Skopje.
    Dont think that Turkish sould become the National Carrier...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:08

    So according to people who comment here the deal between Etihad-Air Serbia is secretive yet this deal betwen Macedonia and the Turks is a beacon of transparency

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11:15

    It is more like people who defend the Serbia-Etihad deal at any cost now all of a sudden feel like lecturing Macedonia on its apparent deal with TK.

    Reality is, such deal has no point of touch with TK's business model and will only be possible if Turkish government decides to push for it for political reasons and political connections with TAV.

    But I still give it less than 40% chance to ever happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:23

      I'm not lecturing anyone and I'm talking about the TAV deal. Only last year we found out that TAV pays nothing if SKP doesen't surpass 1 million passengers, only last year we found out Turkish has benifits at SKP airport and so on.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous14:34

    What an interesting topic.. so many comments today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:18

      Judging by the likes its pretty popular.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:59

      Hahhaha if you look on the right it is the most popular news so far this week. I guess comments don't mean everything. There are people genuinley interested in non-Serbia related articles and I have noticed that there have been much more non-SRB articles lately which is good. I know its not easy to please everyone and that someone will always have a problem with articles, comments, the design of a banner......Don't worry your efforts are appreciated by most,

      Delete
  6. i did say in a comment here few days ago "It looks to me like a second attempt to lure Turkish" However, im not sure on which (new) interview todays article is based on...

    However, its interesting that TAV insists of forming a national carrier, just in time when the subsidies for WIZZ will finish ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous18:32

    I never heard of anything more ridiculous - the flag carrier of one sovereign state becoming the flag carrier of another sovereign state. Wishful thinking on the part of the Macedonian govt - except for one thing - the bilateral agreements that Macedonia has with other countries will not allow it. Why ? To avail themselves of the rights contained within such bilateral agreements, the national flag carrier must be 51% owned and managed by a national of that country .... Maybe Macedonia should invite Turkey to buy 51% of its country or we see the makings of the Ottoman Empire v.2...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:43

      have you heard of Open sky agreement? cool down

      Adria is also flying from Albania and Kosovo

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:40

      Sure they are - but not as the national flag carrier of either of those countries

      Delete
  8. Anonymous19:03

    Bice 6-7 dnevnih letova za IST iz LWSK:-)
    INN

    ReplyDelete
  9. Does Turkish Airlines even have 9th freedom rights to fly between Macedonia and other countries? Even if Macedonia wants that, do other countries have to permit that? I ask because Turkey has a history of denying freedoms for other countries, such as the Qatar flights between Doha and Belgrade which stop over in Ankara, but Qatar does not have fifth freedom rights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:37

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:24

      Political agreement, as mentioned above.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous23:25

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  10. OT: No Kuwait City flight is appearing on LJU airport website for tomorrow. Any idea what is happening?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:23

    pozdrav do site MAKEDONCI kade i da ste.....

    ReplyDelete

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