Low cost carrier Wizz Air handled just over 324.000 passengers on its Macedonia services during the first quarter of the year, extending its dominance on the market where it now accounts for 67.4% of all travellers to and from the country. It was followed by Turkish Airlines in a distant second place with an 8.4% passenger share, then Germania Flug with 4.8% of the market, Austrian Airlines with 4.7%, Edelweiss Air with a 2.6% share, and Pegasus Airlines with a 2.5% traveller share. Wizz Air is set to further grow, with four new routes to be launched from Skopje over the course of the summer, where it will station its fifth aircraft. The budget carrier has already introduced four new routes from Ohrid so far this year.
Busiest airlines in Macedonia - Q1 2019
| Destination | PAX |
|---|---|
| Wizz Air | 324.089 |
| Turkish Airlines | 40.391 |
| Germania Flug | 23.081 |
| Austrian Airlines | 22.600 |
| Edelweiss Air | 12.502 |
| Pegasus Airlines | 12.021 |
Wizz Air's strong results have also solidified passenger growth at both Skopje and Ohrid airports. The country's busiest handled 454.448 travellers during the first quarter, an increase of 5.6% on the same period last year, while Ohrid St Paul the Apostle Airport welcomed 26.397 passengers through its doors, up a notable 63.9%. Istanbul remained the most popular destination from Macedonia (if both Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen airports are accounted) with 10.9% of all passengers flying to or from Turkey's largest city. It was followed by Zurich with an 7.5% market share, then Basel at 5.7%, Malmo at 4.9%, Vienna at 4.8% and Memmingen at 3.6%.
Commenting on the results, the General Manager of operator TAV Macedonia, Alper Ersoy, said, "We finished the first quarter of 2019 with almost half a million passengers at Skopje and Ohrid airports. Skopje Airport registered expected passenger growth of 5.6%, which will be higher in the second and the third quarters of the year, due to the opening of four new routes. At Ohrid Airport we marked incredible passenger growth of 64%. We expect to maintain the high traveller growth rate at Ohrid Airport, which will reach new heights. TAV Macedonia, together with all aviation-related governmental bodies, will continue to work on the development of the route network at both airports. At the same time, customer satisfaction will remain one of our top priorities, focusing on improvement and innovation of services for airlines and passengers".
No ex-Yu airline in sight within the top 5. How times have changed.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the service they offer and the fares they charge, they deserve to be excluded from top 5.
DeleteEx-Yu airlines relied on transfer traffic to Germany and Scandinavia. Wizz has that coverednow.
DeleteI still think SKP us a missed opportunity for Adria. They could have done the same as they have in Pristina.
Delete*is
DeleteThis is crazy. Almost 70% share!
ReplyDeleteAnd it will only grow :)
Deletewell 29 routes nije sala
DeleteAll I can say is well done Wizz.
DeleteOr well done macedonian government for its air transport policy :D
DeleteDo you really think having almost all the eggs in one basket is a smart idea?
DeleteAgree with Frishki. Look at how LJU was impacted in 2009 when Adria held 70% share and started suspending routes left and right.
DeleteSorry don't think you can compare Adria and Wizz Air
DeleteBut Wizz could leave if they don't get subsidies. Last winter when the subsidies stopped they immediately downgraded some routes.
Deletema kakvi, they fly 4 planes without subsidies ...
Deletewow those are fantastic numbers for Skopje
ReplyDeleteto have 67% by only wizz is all but not fantastic
DeletePristina slightly ahead of Skopje at 476,154 passengers.
ReplyDeleteUsually it is Skopje that's slightly ahead of Pristina in the first quarter and then Pristina overtakes them in the summer. This is the first time in a few years that Pristina is ahead this early.
Deletetrue dat
DeleteWell done Skopje and Ohrid. It's great to see OHD attracting more and more passengers.
ReplyDeleteSKP is growing really nicely and now that it is passing 2 million the government should work to reaching 2.5 and then 3.
ReplyDeleteThe government? Shouldn't TAV work on reaching those numbers?
DeleteThe Turks are just sitting and watch their profits grow from large numbers of passengers will the government pays subventions. It was a great investment for them!
DeleteZurich is second busiest route so it's beyond me how Swiss mainline failed in Skopje.
ReplyDeletedid they ever try it? (except for one weekly Geneva)
DeleteYes a few years ago when they failed on almost all ex-Yu markets.
DeleteThe market is there but it's not willing to pay what Swiss was asking for.
DeleteAnd they are willing to pay for it from Nis for example??
DeleteSwiss' tickets are not that expensive...
Deletei dont think that Edelweiss or that familia charter by Germania are cheap either. It remains a mistery tho
DeleteOther than Austrian it seems Mac. market is not in Lufthansa group's interest, which is very odd seeing as they serve the main markets.
Deleteand even less in Sky Team or One world. we are a black hole in those two alliances :D
Deletehave in mind LH is offering connections via VIE, LJU, ZAG and ZRH. maybe thats enough what the market gives for now who knows
Don't complain about being mostly a LCC market. Many Macedonians can afford themselves a cheap holiday to Barcelona or say Bremen, thanks to Wizz Air.
DeleteWhy not visit Bratislava for less than 30 squid?
If Wizz Air wins, so does Macedonia.
30 Squid? :D Made my day!
DeleteW6 is the defacto flag carrier of Northern Macedonia
ReplyDeleteFor several years now.
DeleteThat is a massive share!
ReplyDeletewe need some ex-yu links now: MBX and one coastal town (PUY or ZAD) por favor :P
ReplyDeleteWould there be demand for Tivat or Podgorica?
DeleteMontenegro only in summer.
Deletebut Wizz cannot fly to mk-monte
DeleteThat's true but I was wondering whether there is a market for say Montenegro Airlines.
Deleteif they forge a deal with mk travel agemcies so they can block half of the capacity , probably yes. I have no idea how cheap or expensive YM is. same for OU (SPU).
DeleteMGX used to fly Podgorica-Skopje but it didn't work out.
DeleteThe numbers for SKP are even more spectacular when you have in mind that it has virtually no transfer traffic, meaning passengers are not counted twice.
ReplyDeleteBravo Wizz Air!
ReplyDeleteCan they reach 70% share this year?
DeleteYes, they will probably even surpass it.
DeleteAny guesstimates how many passengers Skopje should handle this year?
ReplyDelete2.35-2.4mil
Delete2.4 in my oppinion.
DeleteOther than Wizz, which other airlines have launched new routes to Skopje over the past few years? I can only think of Aegean and LOT.
ReplyDeleteQatar Airways.
DeleteGood job Skp,Ohd and wizz.
ReplyDelete11 (eleven!) german routes served and not a sign of Lufthansa or uhm Eurowings yet.
ReplyDeleteI don't get it either.
DeleteHow many German destinations does SKP have? Are they more than BEG?
DeleteWell it seems it didn't work out for Eurowings. They put tickets on sale for Skopje and then cancelled it.
DeleteEurowings letos startuje iz Ohrida za Stuttgart i Duseldorf.
DeleteBring back MAT!!
ReplyDeleteNo thanks!
DeleteI think they had the most beautiful logo in Europe. The sun and red coloured font.
DeleteWebsite seems to be maintained: http://mat.com.mk/
Any hope we see them again?
That logo looks like a worn-out 1973. airline logo. Absolutely nothing beautiful about it, let alone the most beautiful.
DeleteIs Wizz keeping all it's routes from Skopje this winter?
ReplyDeleteYes and even Barcelona which was downgraded to seasonal last winter goes year round again.
DeleteExcellent :) thanks. And the 4 new routes are all year round?
DeleteYes
DeleteThey better improve their Customer Service onboard, they behave with the Pax in a very bossy way, no manners most of the time. (i agree some pax can be difficult) but they need to behave with professionalism.
ReplyDeleteI have seen so many times where they screamed off to old ladies and kids.
also non professional,... Once landed in Ohrid i was seated on row 1, after touchdown the 2 cabin crew jumped to the Instagram while most of the pax where starting to standing up, they couldn't care less.... If the cpt had to brake at that time you had like 40 people falling to the floor,...
70% is good share but better do it with some quality and respect for your customers,...
i dont agree at all!
DeleteI think that this LLC funding needs to stop cause it's killing the competition and it's not fair for the other companies.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Wizz has noe established otself in Macedonia. Time to let free market principles rule.
Delete^ that won't be happening for at least another 3 years. New subsidy contract was signed in January.
DeleteEven VIE and FRA are giving subsidies
DeleteIt's turning out to be another great year for Skopje and Ohrid
ReplyDeleteIf Skopje could manage to get one more LCC to base a plane (Ryan or Easy) that could push Skopje to more than 3 million/year and would be perfect for the economy.
ReplyDeleteRyanair would be welcome. Then we would have a FR vs W6 war in SKP.
DeleteIt seems other LCCs are not interested. None of them applied for subsidies on the tender.
DeleteThe tender was made in such a way that only Wizz fulfilled the conditions. So no wonder others didn't apply.
DeleteI vote for Ryanair in Ohrid, because Wizz serves a lot of routes from Skopje.
DeleteDoes anyone know when Wizz's fifth plane is coming to Skopje?
ReplyDeleteFrom June I think.
DeleteIt was announced that Basel goes to 10x weekly. In the schedule is nothing, anybody knows why???
ReplyDeleteMemmingen goes to 4weekly, the rest is used somewhere else (maybe outside SKP)
DeleteTime for Wizz to base a plane in Ohrid?
ReplyDeleteyou said it bro!
Deletebut let them stabilize first at OHD
Pegasus is holding up quite well considering Turkish already flies Istanbul-Skopje.
ReplyDeleteLots of Turkish tourists flying with Pegasus to SKP.
DeleteWhat shocks me most is MLA. 3 weekly flights!
ReplyDeleteWhat's most is that MK opened a consulate over there too!
o_O
https://www.tvm.com.mt/en/news/il-pm-blaqghat-fil-pm-attends-macedonia-meetings/
hahaha I love how they call it "Machedonia" :D :D
From what I see there seem to be more Macedonians leaving to Malta to live.
How do they move there that easily without beeing EU citizens?
DeleteMost live there unregistered i.e illegally. Same with Serbians.
DeleteMLA is defo a surprise and imho that triggered the launch of Larnaca
Deleteand the Maltese government tolerates this? I am also moving to Malta! :D 365 days of sun and sea! Sounds like paradise
DeleteMore or less but now they have started checking passports the monent these Wizz planes land. So they do passport check on the plane. If you are denied entry you go home straight away.
DeleteMany MK have Bulgarian passports so they can live and work in Malta because of EU. This is the only explanation I have.
DeleteAll clear..the Bulgarian passports.
DeleteNo wonder if we see daily Malta flights one day. lol
It all starts like this with 2 then 3 then 5 flights. The standard of living in Malta is way too high and the climate is great. Beaches.English speaking, etc, etc.
DeleteThe gasto paradise :D
I still remember people predicting how Skopje's "bubble will burst". Seems like the bubble just keeps growing :)
ReplyDeletePRG, GVA and AMS (regardless of EIN) are stil free. Someone call Stellios pls, they would work with Easy Jet
ReplyDeleteIF something happens with Wizz one day, Skopje is going down. Not a healthy share, but it is what it is.
ReplyDeleteHow many destinations will Wizzair have from SKP in five years? Can they grow by at least 50% from current passenger numbers? Assuming there is no global downturn and subsidies continue at the airport.
ReplyDeleteHuge expansion with Wizzair in Friedrichshafen => Belgrade, Nis, Ohrid, Podgorica, Pristina and many other no-ex-yu !!! :) :) :) !!!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that maintenance are going on in Memmingen, so flights in September will be moved to Friedrichshafen :(
Delete2/3 of all passengers are on one airline while others keep talking that Air Serbia has monopoly in Belgrade... (and reality is that it has less than 50%)
ReplyDelete