I believe when Wizz Air started Barcelona from Skopje it was the sole year-round route to Spain from EX-YU. But today it is difficult to follow whether flights to Barcelona are available because these flights are on and off all the time. I took the first flight after services were restored, on December 18.Six more flights are scheduled to Barcelona until January 8 and afterwards there are no more flights to be booked until the start of summer timetable 2022.
My flight W67737 was the last departure out of Skopje that evening. Due to accumulated delay from previous flights the planned A321 was changed to an A320 and stand-by crew was deployed. All that resulted in an almost 3-hour delay. Three days before the flight I bought two basic return tickets for 50 euros each, exactly the same price I paid for a bus ticket from Barcelona to Andorra and back. The load factor was in the high 90s, but if scheduled bigger aircraft was used, it would be in the low 80s.
The flight itself was uneventful except for a marriage proposal one guy did with the help of a flight attendant who called the name of the future bride over the intercom.
Three days later I was again at Barcelona Airport’s terminal 2. It is a rather old but well maintained building. Again, the flight to Skopje was the last departure that evening, if we exclude the Iberia/Level flight to Buenos Aires with an odd departure time of 03:20 am.
The equipment on flight W67738 was an A321. The aircraft started its take off run and rejected it. Air traffic control miscalculated our take off from runway 07R with a landing on the crossing runway 02, so our take off clearance was cancelled. Few minutes later, on the second attempt, we were airborne and the rest of the flight to Skopje was smooth.
Now, a few words about Wizz Air. They offer nothing to be amazed about, but they are safe and cheap, and we are happy to have them in Skopje.
Share your travel experience by submitting a trip report to exyu@exyuaviation.com
How was the load on the flight back?
ReplyDelete70%
ReplyDeleteOk that's not too bad but I guess with those fares they can't be making serious money
DeleteBCN terminal 2 is a bit old, but usually very clean and well equipped. It also has a rail connection to the downtown area unlike the newer Terminal 1.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, flights are no longer bookable from SKP for summer.
As for Andorra, it is now connected with Madrid. The sole international destination of their mini airport.
I have a feeling BCN will be back in summer. Spain isn't very strict when it comes to entry requirements.
Delete@ anon 9:15 T1 at BCN-El Prat has metro line L9s that calls at both terminals.
DeleteThere are domestic flights in Andorra???
DeleteThere are no airports inside Andorra, but there is one just a few kilometres from the border in Spain.
Delete@ 11:25 - Did you check the Line 9 itinerary in Terminal 1 and compared it to the rail connection in Terminal 2? I know Barcelona very well as I have been there many times.
DeleteThe rail connection takes in the old terminal takes you to the downtown and most importantly connected to the Sants Railway Station which is the central one connected to Madrid and France for instance.
Marriage proposal and rejected take off and you say that Wizz does not have nothing to offer:) Nice trip report, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteGood Lord, I would've cringed so hard at a marriage proposal on a flight, let alone a Wizz one.
DeleteBCN-LJU please, i don't get it how there are no flights between these two.
ReplyDeleteHey Admin - Merry Christmas and/or Happy NY if you are celebrating Christmas in Jan! :-)
ReplyDeleteWas this blog published because there is sadly nothing happening in Macedonia when it comes to new routes? :-)
Just being Sarcastic, I'm Macedonian myself and sad to see that there is not much happening when it comes to new destinations.
And please don't mentioned then 3 new routes from Wizz to God forsaken airports... Unless you really want to go to LegoLand in Denmark! :-D
Sadly, no new routes.the airport relies on albanian connections and eventual traffic from PRN.
Deletelol sure
Delete@ Anon 15:37 - Beside Wizz new routes, there were several other new introductions in 2021 like Geneva, St. Petersburg (temporarily suspended) and Moscow. Nod bad for a pandemic year.
DeleteEl Prat, very cold place.
ReplyDeleteThey move BCN flights from TIA from now on...
ReplyDeleteAnyone knows what is going to happen to the route Skopje -Barcelona?
ReplyDeleteIt is not available any longer...