Wizz Air grows dominance in Skopje


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".




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    Congratulations Wizz Air.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:31

      WizzBus Gasterbeiten LOL

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:06

    With JP gone this number will only grow. Crazy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      nah, mate. those 2-2,5% will be distributed between OS, OU, JU, LO ...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:41

      Exactly. Primarily taken over by Star Allisnce airlines.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:08

    Anyone know how LO is doing?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:13

    one would have thought that OU will add a freq or two to SKP with JP now gone but hey its too early i guess

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      Well 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%.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:23

      what has OU to do with Wizz? OU has grown 40% in SKP last year despite Wizz

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:24

      even JU added one frequency in the aftermath of JP

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:26

      OU has grown because of the Croatian coast and local traffic. Not because of European transfers.

      JU has added a flight but I don't know how long it will last as they are not doing well in SKP.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:49

      *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

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:52

      Good on OU. Which planes do they use to SKP in summer? Airbuses, CRJ or Dashes?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:20

      In 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.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:21

      the air nostrum one in the afternoon and 3x319 and 2xDash for the overnight

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:31

    That is a massive share!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      Can they reach 70% share this year?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:35

      No, but they will come close.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:43

      70% is getting close to monopoly territory.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:45

      I wouldn't call it monopoly but definitely questionable competitiveness of the market.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:44

      If there was more demand there would be more airlines.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:32

    If 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      They tried to bring another LCC but failed. The market is too small for two LCCs.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:39

    Bravo Hungary!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:41

    Skopje "Wizz Air" Airport.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:43

    Do they plan to add more new routes next year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      not 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

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:54

      I 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.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:30

      well 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

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:45

      Bingo last anon. Good move on their behalf.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:41

    W6 in SKP is like FR in CRL and GRO.
    70% 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:43

      Actually JU in BEG and INI barely has a 50% country share. Get your facts straight.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:56

      JU 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.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:25

      the official name is North Macedonia and the people are still called macedonians (not northern macedonians, according to the agreement with Greece).

      Delete
  11. Anonymous11:05

    If something happens with Wizz one day, Skopje will have problems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:10

      I don't see what could happen. The risk would be the same if there were a national airline. It could go bankrupt.

      Delete
    2. I 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.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous11:06

    And it will only grow :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11:06

    All I can say is well done Wizz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:11

      Or well done macedonian government for its air transport policy :D

      Delete
  14. Anonymous11:07

    Zurich is second busiest route so it's beyond me how Swiss mainline failed in Skopje.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:17

      Maybe they will give it a go now that they are ending INI?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:26

      dont 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)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:27

      for comparison CHair flies daily to SKP

      Delete
  15. Anonymous11:16

    I think that this LLC funding needs to stop cause it's killing the competition and it's not fair for the other companies.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous11:17

    Pegasus is holding up quite well considering Turkish already flies Istanbul-Skopje.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:18

      And they are increasing frequencies next summer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:19

      Lots of Turkish tourists flying with Pegasus to SKP.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:22

      they are constantly increasing their flights

      i dont get why they dont start seasonal IST-OHD

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:50

      They planned to introduce Izmir - Skopje/Ohrid this year but in the end they didn't make a deal with tour operators
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/12/pegasus-airlines-plans-new-macedonia.html

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:16

      partly correct. there were charters Izmir-Skopje and Izmir-Ohrid (and there will be again from May). what is missing are scheduled flights

      Delete
  17. Anonymous13:33

    Wizz need to connect SKP with SPU in summer !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:38

      Croatia Airlines tried that. It lasted a week.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:33

      Wizz will also last one week with 350€ return flights. SKP is performing well with the new pricing

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:34

      they should make a deal with macedonian travel agencies like 15-20 years ago for a semi charter

      Delete
  18. Anonymous14:48

    Seems like all the new routes they launched this year from SKP are working well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:34

      Yes, all new routes doing really well. Larnaca and Turku included.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous17:35

    PRG, GVA and AMS are all still possibilities. Although GVA can only be launched by easyjet.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous17:36

    How many destinations will Wizzair have from SKP in five years?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:45

      I think they could have around 40 destinations. They currently have 31.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:13

      Only 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.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:52

      because of Vienna.

      Delete
  21. Excellent news... time to look elsewhere for a holiday where the British wont ruin the place !

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.