Skopje sustains lead over Zagreb as EX-YU's third busiest airport


Skopje Airport has handled more travellers than its traditionally busier counterpart in Zagreb during the first half of the year, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact traditional passenger flows. Macedonia’s busiest airport handled 374.722 passengers during the January - June period, down 64.6% on the same period in 2019. This is compared to Zagreb, where passenger numbers declined 78% on 2019 to 337.372 over the six-month period. The majority of Macedonian nationals were only permitted entry into most European Union-member states just a month ago. These are traditionally the busiest markets from Skopje Airport, with some 77% of the airport’s traffic generated to and from the EU. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the traditional order of the busiest airports in the former Yugoslavia, with Belgrade having the most passengers during the first half of the year, followed by Pristina and Skopje.

During the January - June period, the most capacity in and out of Skopje was offered to Istanbul’s two airports - Istanbul International and Sabiha Gokcen - followed by Basel, Vienna, Dortmund and London Luton. At the same time, the most seats in and out of Zagreb were offered to Frankfurt, followed by Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, Split and Istanbul. Wizz Air and Turkish Airlines had the most capacity out of the Macedonian capital, while Croatia Airlines and KLM dominated out Zagreb. Skopje outperformed its Croatian counterpart in January, February, March, May and June, with Zagreb being busier in April, which included the Easter holidays.

Both Skopje and Zagreb are managed by the same company, although the latter is part of a bigger consortium. Croatia’s busiest airport is expected to rebound strongly in the coming months with Ryanair to open a base in the city towards the end of August with a total of sixteen new routes during the summer. Commenting on the current state of the Macedonian air travel market, the General Manager of Skopje Airport’s operator TAV Macedonia, Metin Batak, said, “Most airlines have restored their operations. This applies particularly to Wizz Air, which has resumed operations to Germany, as well as Northern and Western Europe. However, due to the big shocks experienced by the aviation sector and the sudden changes in travel restrictions by different countries, we expect a slow recovery. Step by step, we expected the number of destinations at Skopje to return to the level we had before the crisis, which is 44”.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Good on Skopje. But like the article says the next few months will be strong for ZAG with Ryanair.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      Exactly, plus SKP relies on a very heavy gasto traffic. It also may be considered a PRN alternative.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:46

      So what traffic does Zagreb rely on? If Skopje relies on gasto traffic.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Crazy how things have changed in the Covid era

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      True. PRN second, SKP third and LJU last behind Tuzla.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:51

      The way things are going BNX will overtake LJU.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:50

      Well they are getting more new flights than LJU this year so anything is possible.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:21

      BNX had only 2.531 passengers during January-May period while LJU had 42.058. I highly doubt BNX will have more passengers than LJU this year.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    It would be interesting to see the breakdown of passengers at SKP. How many people are going there from Kosovo too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:47

      So, obviously there is some impression here that people form Kosovo use Skopje airport, but that people form Macedonia are not using Pristina airport. Why is that?!
      Success of Skopje is always diminished by the question "how many Kosovars are using it?" and I think origin of the passengers is irrelevant when measuring success of the airport.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:02

      I know quite a few from Kosovo: starting in Skopje , via Belgrade to Ljubljana and vice versa. I was surprised about such routes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:50

      There is a much bigger selection of routes from Skopje than from Pristina.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:39

      There are many passengers from Kosovo via Skopje Airport. I travelled myself once via Skopje and half of the flight were Kosovo passengers. It has to do with prices, with subtleties from Macedonian government, the tickets are cheaper. With new highways, some cities in Kosovo are closer to Skopje Airport than Prishtina Airport.
      While Prishtina Airport is having great performance, still no official figures. Only today they were 70 flights to Prishtina Airport.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    Congrats to Skopje

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    Nice! Anyone know how Nordwind is doing in Skopje?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:43

      Seem to be doing well. They are sending the A321 today.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:44

      Meanwhile to Zagreb they have one flight with B737-800 and one with E190 each week.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:49

      Great to hear! Thanks

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:10

      They are planning second weekly flight from August and oddly St. Petersburg to Skopje from October ...
      In russian:
      https://www.atorus.ru/news/press-centre/new/56032.html?fbclid=IwAR0HHwpO5XYMqzKTDycvwz4MEFHYByhNkWEmdTX3NGAbbVDkn7RGxoJ8p0c%20%C2%A0%20%20%C2%A0

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:06

    Ryanair will be Zagreb's saviour like Wizz Air was Skopje's.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:29

      I would not be that sure. There are already some rumours that FR sales for ZAG flights is not particularly good.

      It will surely improve ZAG numbers, but saviour...I do not think so.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:32

      Let's wait and see. From what I've heard the main issue for FR in Zagreb is low interest for travel from Zagreb while there is healthy sales to Zagreb.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:41

      LCCs are well known for creating a whole new market and category of passengers. Skopje is the best example of that.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:48

      Yes but they stimulated gastos in SKP

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:02

      But on the other hand Lufthansa and Austrian are reducing their Zagreb flights.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:32

      ^ Why?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:37

      Because O&D is moving to FR so there is less need to fly on OS and LH.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:12

      Interesting. Didn't give much thought how Ryanair's expansion could affect airlines other than Croatia Airlines in Zagreb.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:40

      I don't understand how Austrian can be impacted by Ryanair in Zagreb when Ryanair does not fly anywhere near Vienna from Zagreb?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:07

      Think about it like this. Ryanair will be flying from ZAG to GOT and that will be the first air link between the two cities. How did these people fly in the past? Either from another airport or on LH or OS. Same with Sofia where OS was one of the main airlines on the market. Those people will now move to FR.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:08

    This only goes to show that Croatia Airlines can no longer generate growth at ZAG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      No wonder they went after Ryanair.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:12

      Croatia Airlines always dragged ZAG's growth down. It's growth was always lower than ZAG's cumulative.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:35

      Meaning its demise would probably have little impact on ZAG if another airline could take over domestic flights.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:40

      No, it's demise would have a huge impact especially because it has many transfers via Zagreb to the coast. These are passengers that are counted twice.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:46

      I'm sure airlines would jump in quickly to fill the void.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:49

      That's what they said about Adria too...

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:09

    The decline in Skopje isn't as bad as some other airports.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:49

      It's below EU average which is 70%.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:34

      It's close - 64%.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:09

    Can Skopje reach a million this year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      I think it will be difficult to reach a million.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      No chance

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:54

      Why not? Skopje will have a strong summer. Not only are gastos coming in big numbers (as they couldn't last summer) but Macedonians can now travel to most European countries.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:11

    Which airiness that flew before crisis still have to return to SKP?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      Flydubai and Qatar as far as I'm aware.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      Not bad all things considered. I just hope QR will be back.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:18

      Doubt QR will come back.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:20

      Absolute majority of QR passengers to Skopje were from Australia whose residents can't leave the country. That's why QR suspeded Skopje and has not restored it.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:32

      I believe it's the same situation in BEG and ZAG too but they still fly there...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:37

      It's not the same. In BEG and ZAG they don't mostly rely on Australian transfers and the markets are much bigger.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:34

      Well they are operating daily flights to Belgrade with A321s so I would say they have fully recovered there.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:12

    At least covid showed us the natural state of things. How LJU really unimportant is without proper airline to connect it to the Europe, and how ZAG is lacking LCCs. Luckily the things for ZAG are going to change. For LJU I don't see way out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      Good observation

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:53

      I just hope the LCC story in ZAG does not end up like previous ones with easyjet and Wizz.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:12

    SKP's recovery will depend a lot on Wizz Air.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Hope all Wizz routes are restored too

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      Which routes still have to resume?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      Malta and Larnaca

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:49

      Budapest too

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:17

    I predict by the end of the year ZAG will overtake SKP but not PRN.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      Yes. We will need to wait until October to see the real positive numbers at ZAG.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:22

      I expect much better numbers in the next few months.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:21

    Wonder how many pax SKP would have had if there was no coronavirus in 2020, especially how well things started out last year.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:24

    It was to be expected. SKP started having more passengers on a monthly basis around November last year

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:28

    Not surprised Istanbul is number one route. Turkey is very popular this summer, which is why we have all those new Anadolujet routes.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:29

    It might take 4 or 5 years before full recovery at 2019 level.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      That's the real unknown.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:02

      Fly Dubai just made a huge Max cancellation. Demand for air travel will definitely not be increasing any time soon reaching 2019 might take a couple of years. Plus, not all countries approve Russian or Chinese vaccines. A new wave is peedicted by September. Things are getting complicated.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:47

      In the US, airlines don't predict any decline in traffic until the end of the year.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:52

      I don't think many countries will be able to afford the lockdown and restrictions we had last winter. Most countries in Europe now have vaccines so it's not the same as it was last year.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:22

      More than a couple of years for things to improve.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:01

    Will Zagreb handle over 1 million passengers this year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:01

      I think so.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:02

      Probably 1.2 - 1.3 million.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:07

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In ex-yu, ZAG had more airlines flying to and out of ZAG and more destinations than today. It had kept firmly the second place in ex-yu, with smaller difference compared to BEG than today. Such situation continued after the independence, until recently. Today ZAG has base carrier shrinking to disappear, uncertain future for many other carriers currently operating or about to return, and will probably take longer time to be ex-yu second again, which might even never happen. Also, to mention ZAG had the possibility to become the first in ex-yu, about decade ago, which will now never happen. One more lost opportunity, of course. So, yeah, Bravo Hrvatska indeed. Bravo for destroyed economy, bravo for relying on tourism only, bravo for uhljebs in OU, bravo for not letting LCC to ZAG until yesterday, big big big Bravo!!!!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:26

      pozdrav is right unfortunately :(

      Delete
    3. JU520 BEGLAX15:18

      @pozd iz Rijeke

      Nije bila toliko loša,naša Jugoslavija ;-))

      Delete
    4. @JU520BEGLAX
      Nasa Juga nije bila idealna, ali je u vecini stvari, ukljucivo avijaciju, bila 5 puta bolja od svih banana drzavica koje imamo danas, od Triglava do Gevgelije. Bilo je i prostora za poboljsanje ali nazalost desilo se suprotno

      Delete
    5. JU520 BEGLAX18:03

      + 1

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:14

    I'm interested to see how many new passengers Ryanair will generate in Zagreb and how many it will take over from other airlines

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:21

      They said they plan to be handling 2-3 million passengers when they reach between 30 and 40 routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:33

      But when will that be?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:42

      Cheap marketing

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:22

    Great to see SKP on the road to recovery.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous11:12

    Good work SKP.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous11:22

    Wish them both good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous11:26

    Imagine what the numbers would be if SKP had a national airline.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:30

      It does have a national airlines. It's called Wizz Air.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:32

      And it costs less than previous ones.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous11:31

    Amazing that KLM is number 2 airline in Zagreb and number 1 foreign airline in Zagreb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:32

      They did quite well to ZAG even last winter when Europe was closed.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:47

      They are doing well all over Croatia. I mean they have three daily flights to Split.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous07:26

      This only shows how uncompetitive Lufthansa has become. Look at their situation in LJU. When they had JP to do their dirty business, LH Group hubs dominated the transfer market. Now that they have to compete they are delaying or reducing flights and capacity.
      Same in ZAG. The moment they were attacked by AF-KL and FR they started cutting. It started with LX from ZRH then with LH from MUC and now we are seeing FRA and VIE being reduced by OS and LH. We could see a clear shift in ZAG where non-Star airlines start to dominate. If this happens then OU is roast.

      Even though AF canceled the second daily flight to ZAG they still offer more weekly flights to Paris than OU does. If they decide to terminate the codeshare and to attack them they are dead just like JP was when they did it to them like a year before they went bankrupt.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous14:33

    Will Skopje be busier in July too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:46

      Highly likely.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:51

      July and August probably. September will be another story.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous14:51

    I can't believe SKP has sustained more passengers than ZAG for months now. Crazy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bravo Hrvatska! LOL

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:28

      A few weeks ago I said SKP will be still ahead of ZAG and was attacked. I guess I am the one to laugh last. ZAG management needs to be sacked over this as it clearly shows that they can't handle the covid storm and to push for a fast reconstruction of flights.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous15:25

    Why did Wizz remove one A321 NEO from Skopje? There's just one left now.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous18:01

    What are the passenger numbers for the 1st half of 2021 for BEG and PRN? News article only mentioned numbers for SKP and ZAG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:11

      How do they know PRN is not first, SKP second and ZAG third?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:13

      Because it says it isn't. And if you bothered to read the articles here you would know BEG handled more passengers in June (single month) than Zagreb did for the whole period January until June.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous07:28

      Even in May, JU handled more passengers than all of the Croatian airports put together.

      Delete
  30. congrats ! good luck for rest of summer

    ReplyDelete

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