Greece's largest carrier Aegean Airlines will launch flights between Athens and Skopje next June, resuming services between the two capital cities after more than a decade. The company's Executive Vice Chairman, Eftychios Vassilakis, unveiled the new route yesterday as part of Aegean's 2018 summer season expansion plans, which will see it add eighteen new destinations to its network, including Zagreb and Zadar, as previously reported. The carrier is yet to put tickets on sale for its new Skopje service. The Macedonian capital was Aegean's first scheduled international destination back in 2003, however, flights were discontinued later on as relations between Macedonia and Greece deteriorated. Next summer, Aegean plans to serve Belgrade, Dubrovnik, Podgorica, Split, Zadar and Zagreb, in addition to Skopje, within the former Yugoslavia on a scheduled basis. Aegean’s passenger traffic will grow to thirteen million this year from 8.8 million in 2013 when it acquired state-run Olympic Airlines. The carrier expects to carry around fifteen million passengers a year by 2023.

The announcement comes on the back of strong results posted by Macedonia's two international airports during the first three quarters. Skopje and Ohrid welcomed a combined total of 1.546.193 passengers during the January - September period, representing an increase of 12% on 2016. The two registered 13.752 aircraft movements, up 6%. "The increase in passenger traffic continued in 2017, although at a slower pace during the first half of the year. However, following the introduction of four new routes from Skopje Airport, as well as a new season of flights from Ohrid, in the second half of the year, we again recorded double digit passenger growth. We expect to end this year with a solid increase in the total number of passengers", the General Manager of TAV Macedonia, Alper Ersoy, said. Over the past nine months, Istanbul was the busiest route out of Macedonia, accounting for 12.4% of all passengers. It was followed by Zurich (8.7%), Vienna (6.8%), Basel (5.1%), Malmo (4.6%) and London (3.9%). Wizz Air continues to maintain its position as the country's busiest airline, boasting a market share of 57.5%. It was followed by Turkish Airlines (8.5%), Austrian Airlines (6.8%), Germania Flug (5.1%) and Pegasus Airlines (4.5%).

In addition to Aegean's new service, TAV Macedonia has also secured new scheduled flights to Ohrid, including Nordica from Tallinn and Brussels Airlines operating from the Belgian capital. "As an airport operator, TAV Macedonia will continue to promote Skopje and Ohrid airports with carriers and tour operators in order to provide new destinations and new airlines for our passengers. Some of the more recent marketing activities included the participation of TAV Airports' Marketing Department at the World Routes forum in Barcelona at the end of September, while in the past week we hosted a group of Italian journalists during their visit to Macedonia, which should result in the country's promotion as a tourist destination on the Italian market", Mr Ersoy noted.