The Macedonian Ministry for Transport and Communications has issued a public call for the submission of applications in order to grant financial support for the launch of new routes. Those applying must have handled at least ten million passengers in 2017 and recorded a profit of 25 million euros. The winning carrier must establish and/or maintain a base with at least one aircraft in Skopje and Ohrid by December 1 at the latest for the duration of the three-year financial support program. Furthermore, the carrier in question must launch at least two new routes from Skopje by November 1 and four new routes from Ohrid, the first two by the end of 2018 and the rest a year after being granted state support.

The newly launched routes from Skopje and Ohrid cannot be served from the other airport and cannot have been served over the past two seasons. In addition, every new destination introduced at Macedonia's two international airports must be run at least twice per week throughout the year. Applicants are free to introduce additional new services, with the Ministry noting that the winner will be chosen based on the number of new destinations proposed. If two carriers commit to the same number of destinations, the winner will be determined based on the number of frequencies.

The financial support includes a one-time payment of 40.000 euros for each new route launched, as well as nine euros per passengers for each new destination from Skopje for the first year, eight euros during the second year and seven during the third. On the other hand, the carrier will receive thirteen euros per passenger during the first year of operations on a new route out of Ohrid, twelve during the second and eleven euros per traveller in the third year. A similar policy was enforced on two previous occasions, in 2012 and 2015, with Wizz Air being the sole beneficiary. Applications for the latest round of subsidies must by submitted to the Macedonian government by July 27.

Further tender terms and conditions can be found here.