The Macedonian Ministry for Transport and Communications has relaunched a tender to grant financial support to an airline for the launch of new routes, just over a month after annulling a similar public call. The newly published incentives will be provided to the winning airline between 2019 and 2021. Those applying must have carried at least ten million passengers in 2017 and recorded a net profit of 25 million euros. The selected airline must establish and/or maintain a base with at least one aircraft in Skopje or Ohrid by January 10, 2019 at the latest for the duration of the financial support program. Furthermore, the carrier in question must launch at least two new routes from Skopje by January 10 and four new routes from Ohrid, the first two in January 2019 and the rest within a year of 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 routes, 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 be submitted to the Macedonian government by October 12.
The Ministry for Transport and Communications annulled a previous tender held earlier this summer after it received one bid. According to the Ministry, the bidder did not clearly write its name and address on the submitted envelop as outlined in the tender documentation. "On this occasion, I invite all interested airlines to apply for the public call. The government of the Republic of Macedonia will remain committed to creating conditions for the development of air traffic in the country and the provision of affordable and cheap flights for citizens to new and attractive destinations", Transport Minister Goran Sugareski said. The government has set up a commission which will evaluate each bid and will determine the winner. Late last month, the head of the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency, Goran Jandreoski, said, "It is not just Wizz Air, there is also interest from Ryanair and easyJet. The Agency is always at hand to provide support so everyone can enjoy the benefits of low cost travel for a long time to come",
Televisa presenta...
ReplyDeleteThis is turning into such a messy affair. I doubt Wizz will tolerate more additional competition. If there is a meltdown then INI and PRN will benefit the most.
it wont be competition on same routes, so not really a meltdown
DeleteYes but they are distancing themselves from Wizz Air which they won't like, they won't like it at all. They will be furious even. Even when they decided to link VIE with North Macedonia they opted for OHD, not SKP. There's a storm brewing on the horizon.
Deletelulz.
DeleteSKP is already linked to VIE with 2 daily flights with OS
DeleteAnd the country is still called Macedonia, as you may well read in this blog
now we can see the real interest from Ryanair and Easyjet.
ReplyDeleteYes, why not?
DeleteNeither Ryan or easy jet open new bases in the middle of winter ahead of the dead season with 2 planes in a country they never operated in.
DeleteWhat's the point of the tender? Just give it to Wizz Air. Which airline in their right mind will base 2 planes in the middle of winter in just 4 months time? If you are making a tender for Wizz to win, what was the point of the entire farse with the annulment?
ReplyDeletebase within a year ..... "the first two in January 2019 and the rest within a year of being granted state support"
DeleteBy january 10 you need to have a plane based in SKP or OHD.
Deletenot really because the 4 routes til the end of year doesnt make sense ...
DeleteOnly goes to show how disillusined this government is and how much they are overestimating the market potential.
Deletelol, thats why Wizz agreed on basing two new aircrafts (one in SKO , one in OHD), because the martket is not there. Grohotom se smijem
DeleteYou can laugh all you want but let's see who laughs last.
Delete@anon 10.52: facepalm!
DeleteI still don't get why they annulled the last tender? The rules seem to be the same. Were they really that hung up on a technicality?
ReplyDeleteIf someone other than Wizz wins that will be your answer :D
Deleterules are not the same. its one aircraft (or more) now on either SKP or OHD.
DeleteOh I see. Ok, maybe there is now a better chance of someone else applying.
Deletea summer connection to Romania is badly needed
ReplyDeletesince this is a macedonian topic, here quickly the July tourists stats:
1.Tur 2.Srb 3.Pol 4.Ned 5.Bul 6.Rom 7.Ger 8.Australia 9.Gre 10.Bel 11. Usa 12.Isr 13.Slo 14.Swe 15.Alb
looking at 1 and 2 it is clear that transits are counted as tourists...so I would't be surprised if the Romanians are just passing by on the way to Greece. This does not justify a direct connection, sorry
DeleteThere was this back in July. Maybe flights do happen.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/07/macedonia-seeks-romania-flights.html
lol, kind of expected you.
Deleteif simple transits are counted we would have additional 700.000 serbian "tourists" a year. Its very clear what is counted as a tourist, if you dont know have a read.
or visit Ohrid
Deleteoh please, or come to see the Neo Baroque. What is the definition of a tourist in M, please?
DeleteWell, whatever it my be, neo baroque, or the brutalist architecture (exhibition about it in the moma in nyc) fact is, this is the official statistic for people arriving in Macedonia and being counted as tourists.
DeleteA new airline (or new routes) are necessary. Growth will soon slow to 2 or 3% at SKP otherwise. I believe it already happened in August (although there was that soccer thing last August so numbers were inflated by that last year).
ReplyDeletelol
Deleteavg SKP&OHD 274.169 +10%
DeleteSo we are already down to 10%?
Deletehappy now, hater?
Deletefrustrations healed?
It's just being realistic. Growth is 10% at both airports, thanks to Ohrid but you will see overall Skopje growth in August.
Deleteim amazed where does all this hate come from in one person?
DeleteUmm it's not hate at all. Love Macedonia, we are here to talk about aviation realistically. I gave my point of view in a normal manner. If you have a different point of view share it and we can discuss. That's the point of comments. Just because you don't like something, doesn't make it hate.
DeleteI would love to see a legacy airline like Turkish apply for this. They wold have no problem basing a plane at such short notice and they could really do wonders for the market.
ReplyDelete+1
Deletebut would they have the rights to fly to EU?
DeleteTrue, that could be problematic. Forgot about that.
DeleteLol, TK is already in Albania. Its hard to find a reason why they would base a plane in Skopje
DeleteTATL.
DeleteTIA-JFK is planned by the end of 2019 with leased TK A330. It is very adventurous but we can rule out SKP.
Deletelol
DeleteMuch more logical than SKP TATL flights, i can assure you
DeleteThe subsidies are not too big but it will lead to new routes.
ReplyDeletewhat could be the REALISTIC new routes from SKP? But without day dreaming about Lisboa or Nice, where is the bigger diaspora not covered yet and probably 1-2 seasonal vacation routes in the summer? Are there summer charters right not to somewhere else but Greece or Turkey?
ReplyDeletediaspora: only Austria is left partially covered: Salzburg is my personal favourite (it can supply southern Bavaria as well).
DeletePRG is a given but you will get no subsidies for that route as it was operated by Czech
other hot candidates: AMS, ATH , Karlsruhe/Stuttgart
there are charters to Egypt (Hurghada)
OK no longer flies between the two cities so I think they could get the subsidies.
DeleteOK didn't handle 10 million passengers last year nor had 25 million EUR profit. So they can't apply.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAdria should apply. They could easily basr a Saab in SKP and OHD.
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked Adria didn't have 25 million profit in 2017 and didn't carry 10 million pax ;)
Deleteand then the plot thickens: LEVEL :D
ReplyDeleteThat would be great but unfortunately they didn't have the number of passengers or profit the tender is asking for, unless they consider it on a group level i.e IAG.
DeleteWill we see Ryan applying for the subsidies?
ReplyDeleteisnt that the reason for softening the rules? ;)
DeleteHope so. But I think Wizz will win this.
DeleteI can not understand why people are you so dumb and asking for Ryan? Ryan is the shittiest airline company in the world and you want that shit in SKP.
DeleteJust give the subsides to WizzAir and everyone will benefit ( creating workplaces, new routes, domestic crew, new Airplanes , already proved since started flying from SKP )
The worst scenario is Ryan to SKP, and stop asking for it!
The worst things for OHD is TIA booming. It's growth is spectacular and soon it will handle as many passengers as ZAG! Shocking.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see which routes will be launched.
ReplyDeleteMaybe OHD-OSL/ TRF would be great.
ReplyDeleteU Ohridu ne zelimo subvencije vlade i vise novih letova i konekcija sa Ohridskog aerodroma imamo ih dovoljno za zdrav i odrzljiv turizam oko 120hiljada putnika, da vas potsetim da je grad Ohrid i njegova okolina svjetsko naslede u Ujedinjenih nacija i je zasticeno i UNESKO-vim i Evropolovim zakonima da Ohrid ostane i dalje zdrava i cista zivotna stredina za ljude,bez suvisna zagadjenja okolisa.
ReplyDeleteKo zeli putovati neka ide na Aerodrom u Skoplju ili u Beogradu.Skoro svi gradjani u Ohridu i okolini imaju isti stav po ovom pitanju.
The subsidy commission should give more money for air navigation services to improve the performance for all airlines operating from Macedonia.
ReplyDelete