Low cost carrier Wizz Air handled just over 1.118.000 passengers on its Skopje flights during the first three quarters of 2019, extending its dominance in the Macedonian capital where it now accounts for 62.2% of all travellers. It was followed by Turkish Airlines in a distant second place with a 7% passenger share, then Austrian Airlines with 5.8% of the market, Chair Airlines with 4%, and Pegasus Airlines with a 4% share. Croatia Airlines retained its title as the most popular national carrier from the former Yugoslavia in Skopje, handling some 55.700 travellers during the nine-month period, with a share of 3.1%.
Wizz Air has grown its dominance in Skopje this year with the launch of four new routes to the city. The budget airline based its fifth aircraft in the Macedonian capital with passenger numbers set to further grow in the fourth quarter as the airline upgraded two routes from seasonal to year-round operations. Overall, Istanbul remained the most popular destination from Skopje (if both of its airports are accounted) with 9.9% of all passengers flying to or from Turkey's largest city. It was followed by Zurich with a 6.3% market share, then Vienna at 5.8%, Basel at 5.3% and Malmo at 4.1%.
Skopje Airport welcomed 1.798.129 passengers through its doors during the first three quarters of the year, representing an improvement of 8.2%. It added an extra 137.640 travellers on 2018. The General Manager of operator TAV Macedonia, Alper Ersoy, recently said, “Macedonia's airports are blossoming. They have become among the fastest growing in the Balkans and in Europe. We are glad they are being recognised by citizens from neighbouring countries, who use them regularly for their travels. We will continue to work on their development, with the aim to transform the airports into main regional air traffic hubs".
Congratulations Wizz Air.
ReplyDeleteWizzBus Gasterbeiten LOL
DeleteWith JP gone this number will only grow. Crazy.
ReplyDeletenah, mate. those 2-2,5% will be distributed between OS, OU, JU, LO ...
DeleteExactly. Primarily taken over by Star Allisnce airlines.
DeleteAnyone know how LO is doing?
ReplyDeleteone would have thought that OU will add a freq or two to SKP with JP now gone but hey its too early i guess
ReplyDeleteWell it's difficult for them to compete with Wizz which is dominating the market. I mean by the end of the year they will come close to 70%.
Deletewhat has OU to do with Wizz? OU has grown 40% in SKP last year despite Wizz
Deleteeven JU added one frequency in the aftermath of JP
DeleteOU has grown because of the Croatian coast and local traffic. Not because of European transfers.
DeleteJU has added a flight but I don't know how long it will last as they are not doing well in SKP.
*says someone that has never been on the morning flight ZAG-SKP. OU has seriously tapped into the transfer market during the summer schedule (when they have nearly two daily flights). 50% are not related to local traffic and the coast
DeleteGood on OU. Which planes do they use to SKP in summer? Airbuses, CRJ or Dashes?
DeleteIn order to seriously tap into the transfer market one needs to have a serious hub network which OU doesn't have. They fill those regional planes with transfers to AMS, CDG, Germany and Vienna... and maybe CPH but I doubt it due to Wizz.
Deletethe air nostrum one in the afternoon and 3x319 and 2xDash for the overnight
DeleteThat is a massive share!
ReplyDeleteCan they reach 70% share this year?
DeleteNo, but they will come close.
Delete70% is getting close to monopoly territory.
DeleteI wouldn't call it monopoly but definitely questionable competitiveness of the market.
DeleteIf there was more demand there would be more airlines.
DeleteIf 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.
ReplyDeleteThey tried to bring another LCC but failed. The market is too small for two LCCs.
DeleteBravo Hungary!
ReplyDeleteSkopje "Wizz Air" Airport.
ReplyDeleteDo they plan to add more new routes next year?
ReplyDeletenot that we are awre of it. so far they have added flights every two years except that one time when they realised FR were close to striking a deal with SKP
DeleteI still find it interesting that they were not prepared to compete against FR at any cost and announced literally the destinations FR would have launched.
Deletewell it paid off for them. now they have 5 planes and a more then comfortable lead. they are under no pressure and can wait til the macedonian gov opens their pockets again
DeleteBingo last anon. Good move on their behalf.
DeleteW6 in SKP is like FR in CRL and GRO.
ReplyDelete70% is just insane. This is actually almost the same with JU in BEG and INI having 65% share already.
The Northern Macedonian deserves the choice of having more choices to more primary airports..TAV must work harder on that direction.
Actually JU in BEG and INI barely has a 50% country share. Get your facts straight.
DeleteJU share in BEG is 44% so far this year. ;) Hardly comparable especially since JU is a hub airline while Wizz Air is comparable to a bus company.
Deletethe official name is North Macedonia and the people are still called macedonians (not northern macedonians, according to the agreement with Greece).
DeleteIf something happens with Wizz one day, Skopje will have problems.
ReplyDeleteI don't see what could happen. The risk would be the same if there were a national airline. It could go bankrupt.
DeleteI disagree... Wizz has shown that the market is there. If something happens to Wizz, other airlines (LCC) will jump in to replicate what Wizz has proved to be profitable.
DeleteAnd it will only grow :)
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is well done Wizz.
ReplyDeleteOr well done macedonian government for its air transport policy :D
DeleteZurich is second busiest route so it's beyond me how Swiss mainline failed in Skopje.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they will give it a go now that they are ending INI?
Deletedont think they care that much about Macedonia. Edelweiss flies 4 weekly in winter, 6x in April but then only 3x in the busiest season Jun-Sept (I mean WTF is that kind of a schedule)
Deletefor comparison CHair flies daily to SKP
DeleteI think that this LLC funding needs to stop cause it's killing the competition and it's not fair for the other companies.
ReplyDeletePegasus is holding up quite well considering Turkish already flies Istanbul-Skopje.
ReplyDeleteAnd they are increasing frequencies next summer.
DeleteLots of Turkish tourists flying with Pegasus to SKP.
Deletethey are constantly increasing their flights
Deletei dont get why they dont start seasonal IST-OHD
They planned to introduce Izmir - Skopje/Ohrid this year but in the end they didn't make a deal with tour operators
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/12/pegasus-airlines-plans-new-macedonia.html
partly correct. there were charters Izmir-Skopje and Izmir-Ohrid (and there will be again from May). what is missing are scheduled flights
DeleteWizz need to connect SKP with SPU in summer !
ReplyDeleteCroatia Airlines tried that. It lasted a week.
DeleteWizz will also last one week with 350€ return flights. SKP is performing well with the new pricing
Deletethey should make a deal with macedonian travel agencies like 15-20 years ago for a semi charter
DeleteSeems like all the new routes they launched this year from SKP are working well.
ReplyDeleteYes, all new routes doing really well. Larnaca and Turku included.
DeletePRG, GVA and AMS are all still possibilities. Although GVA can only be launched by easyjet.
ReplyDeleteHow many destinations will Wizzair have from SKP in five years?
ReplyDeleteI think they could have around 40 destinations. They currently have 31.
DeleteOnly if Macedonian government offers subsidies. We saw last year that the second that plans for new subsidies were delayed they started cutting flights and making them seasonal.
Deletebecause of Vienna.
DeleteExcellent news... time to look elsewhere for a holiday where the British wont ruin the place !
ReplyDelete