NEWS FLASH
Bulgarian carrier GullivAir inaugurated flights between Sofia and Skopje over the weekend, reconnecting the two cities with a nonstop air service for the first time in over a decade. Operations will be maintained twice per week, each Monday and Saturday, with the ATR72-600 aircraft. Commenting on the launch, GullivAir CEO, Georgi Kolev, said, “GullivAir Airlines is happy to announce the launch of new scheduled flights between Sofia and Skopje. The portfolio of Gullivair's scheduled operations is now increasing to up to three new routes (Burgas, Skopje and Tirana) and in mid-summer season we are expecting to present our new scheduled overseas flights to New York and New Delhi. This will enable citizens of North Macedonia and their guests to explore new routes that are available through a thirty-minute flight to Sofia. The benefits of these flights will be essential for our people and will contribute to the strengthening of good relations between us. We believe and we look forward to a fruitful collaboration with [airport operator] TAV Macedonia and Skopje Airport. Special thanks to the Ministers of Transport of both North Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria”. The General Manager of TAV Macedonia, Metin Batak, added, “As TAV we are excited to mark and celebrate GullivAir’s entry onto the Macedonian market, with the launch of the new Sofia - Skopje route. We are happy that the airline started its operations to and from Skopje Airport despite the still ongoing Covid pandemic. We believe that this route has great potential, both for leisure and business travellers”.
Bravo, Makedonijo!
ReplyDeleteI tracked the flight on Saturday and it was indeed only 30min and with an ATR. Imagine if Gullivair were to have an 320 or 737, the time would probably be 20min. As far as I read, LF was not great but it will take some time for the route to mature. 76€ for a return ticket with hand luggage is not a bad price. Tirana will initially be 2 weekly and then increase to 4 in summer. Various local tour operators are already advertising it with very competitive prices.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the same can be done with Ohrid...
There are already talks about launching OHD
DeleteThey are delaying Tirana every week. It was supposed to start in 19 March. Definitely not leaving a good taste, they will have to rely on tour operators.
DeleteTrue, Tirana was oddly postponed to the 2nd of April (for now). Also, Burgas airport is currently closed until around mid-April because of the airfield pavement recovery and flights have been shifted to 10th April.
Delete@14:54 - true. Ohrid was mentioned quite a number of times. Lets see what happens.
Do we know when SOF-SKG flights are starting?
ReplyDeleteThere were flights with Bulgaria Air last year but I don't think it went well. Sofia-Thessaloniki was always accessible via highway and train. The distance is around 3h30m by car. Most people usually use their cars to visit the Chalkidi/Kavala area and therefore avoid taking the plane. Plus, SKG is an extremely seasonal destination via air.
DeleteYes there were flights with Bulgaria Air last year but GullivAir recently announced that they're planning to serve SKG too
DeleteThey are planning year-round SKG service. Also there are plans for OTP.
DeleteSKP, SKG OTP, TIA, and more potential, are primarily to feed coming long-haul flights, especially NYC. At least I see it that way, P2P passengers will probably be much less than transfers. And that's why they are starting them. And that's what OU should have done long ago. But they have more important things to do. Feed LH, making losses doing it
DeleteHaving a strong regional network can make this airline really strong. If they start year-round services to SKG,OTP and maybe other Balkan destinations it will be a big success for SOF and a really good step for GullivAir to expand further with long-haul flights.
Delete@21:08 - Yes, they also have a decent fleet but they are still a startup airline and they need some more experience. I think however that the organised charters to exotic destinations from SOF and OTP was quite successful. There are plans to launch Phuket in October 2022.
DeleteThere are also talks to introduce Habana, Mexico and Bali charters from December.
DeleteTwo weekly flights, it shouldn't be too complicated to fill them
ReplyDeleteYes, because the prices are quite reasonable. The only slight downside are the very early hours of departure but I think they made it for both tourism and business travellers. Wonder how the bus companies operating will react, they won't like this news lol.
Deletethe picture of the dudes holding the sign is priceless.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteGullivAir yesterday have sent it's A332 to SKP for taking the football team of Macedonia for the game against Portugal.
ReplyDelete