Turkish Airlines in talks over Macedonia expansion


Turkish Airlines has held talks with the  Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of Economic Affairs, Fatmir Bytyqi, and a delegation from the country, including airport operator TAV Macedonia, concerning their expansion on the market. The Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines, Ahment Bolat, said, “During our meeting with the North Macedonian delegation headed by Fatmir Bytiki, Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of the Economy, we had a productive meeting regarding increasing our flights to Skopje and strengthening our presence in the country with new routes. We thank them for their visit and hope that our cooperation will continue to grow”.

Turkish Airlines is already Macedonia’s busiest legacy and transfer carrier and has recently grown its presence in the country through its lower cost unit AnadoluJet, which maintains seasonal operations from Antalya and Bodrum to Skopje. However, Turkish has seen increasing competition from its local competitors on the Macedonian market. Pegasus Airlines has increased its capacity between Istanbul and Skopje, as well as introduced a new summer service from Izmir, while several other carriers have launched scheduled seasonal flights from the Turkish coast, including SunExpress and Corendon Airlines from Antalya. On the other hand, despite its strong appeal to travellers, Ohrid currently has no nonstop flights to Turkey.

The Macedonian Ministry for Transport and Communication has previously said it has discussed the possibility of Turkish Airlines operating transatlantic flights from Skopje as well, although there has been no further progress on the matter since. Macedonia and Turkey have an Open Skies Agreement in place with both the United States and Canada, which permits for a Turkish carrier to be issued fifth freedom rights by regulators from all parties involved. "As TAV Airports, we are actively promoting both Skopje and Ohrid airports in various fields in order to attract new airlines and expand the route network and passenger numbers. We have always established close relationships with our airline clients through our world-wide airport operations. This is also the case in Macedonia, and we are ready to provide the utmost support to an airline which would consider flying transatlantic from Skopje. Skopje Airport is operationally capable to handle such transatlantic flights and ready to support carriers which would consider operating", TAV Macedonia said at the time.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:11

    I hope they finally start flights to Ohrid. I'm surprised they don't fly there already.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:12

      Ohrid has a lot of potential and the tourism is still not developed to its full potential. So I think we will only see flights grow more and more in the future.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:23

      Hopefully we see TK there next year and JU is also negotiating return to Ohrid.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous04:40

      They should start imediately flight from ohrid to istanbul with tk
      Theyre 50k people fly to usa every year from that area
      Ohrid struga debat kiveco prespa
      Than korca elbasan and pogradec from albania thousands of passengers flying from usa to albania every summer
      Maybe 5 to 10k from may to end of september

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:12

    How many flights does Turkish Airlines have to Skopje?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      Double daily.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:23

      14 per week

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      Thanks. Is there potential for more?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:32

      Before the pandemic they announced third daily flight which didn't materialize

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:53

      What equipment does TK use mostly to SKP? Do they send a lot of A321s?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:57

      Mix of A321s and 738s.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:13

    What new routes could they introduce?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      I think Ankara is a real possibility.

      Delete
  4. Yes they started their flights to Ohrid. What a suprising news.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      ?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:24

      Thay don't fly to OHD yet

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:17

    I wouldn't be surprised if TK starts transatlantiv flights, especially if they get some form of subsidies from the government or TAV

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      It would be crazy if Skopje gets flights to the US before Zagreb

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      What are the main Macedonian diaspora centres in the US?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:27

      Detroit and Chicago

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:31

      Absolutely zero chance for that.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:32

      I don't think there is a chance of it happening but Skopje could serve Albanian and Kosovo passengers too and that market is quite big

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:32

      Anon 09:20 These kind of fairytales you read every day in these comments. Obviously it won't happen anytime soon.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:40

      9.32 yes there are no Macedonians to serve but milion miiiilion of albanians :)))

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:40

      That's not the way Turkish is working since they want to bring as many passengers as possible through their hub and I'm not seeing them launching direct flights to USA/Canada from other airports then IST.
      Maybe what they can do is do something like Air Albania and place one/two planes to fly to major unserved hubs in Europe, but then again that will mean they will will divert passengers away from their hub.
      Honestly, most what I'm seeing here is potential third flight to IST on some days, direct flights to Ankara, and maintaining flights to Izmir year round.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:41

      It would be an interesting concept for TK. And I wouldn't be so quick to write it off like some here

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:43

      "most what I'm seeing here is potential third flight to IST on some days, direct flights to Ankara, and maintaining flights to Izmir year round."

      That's not bad either :)

      Delete
    11. Anonymous09:46

      Long haul was initiated by TAV but when TK calculated the numbers, it just didn't make sense.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous09:47

      Fyi NYC is the biggest unserved market from SKP

      Delete
    13. Anonymous09:48

      It's not that simple. How big is the Macedonian diaspora in US? Is it big enough to justify the Macedonian government to spend taxpayer money for long-haul flights? Would TK be willing to operate 2-3 weekly from SKP instead of funneling these passengers from their own base?

      Delete
    14. Anonymous09:49

      It's not so much about the Macedonian diaspora as it is about the Albanian one.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous10:00

      So let me get this straight, in order to serve the Albanian diaspora TK would fly from SKP instead of PRN or TIA where they even have their own airline set up and everything?

      Delete
    16. Anonymous10:01

      Yes it can serve both markets and government and airport operator are ready to support it.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous10:07

      Ok, I'll be waiting.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous11:13

      sorry but New Jersey is where most Macedonians in the US congregate folowed by Detroit/Chicago

      Delete
    19. Anonymous04:43

      Theyres almost 65k albanians live in usa mostly in new york new yersey and ct
      And some of them from kicevo and struga are in chicago
      Some macedonians are in chicago and north east to
      Ik from population count was this year from 65k albanians only 30k registered on population count
      Because it was a mess application for to register
      They made is so hard so people don’t register or gave up

      Delete
    20. Anonymous19:41

      Yeah, as a Macedonian living in NYC I must say unfortunately there are many many Macedonians in the tri-state area, just as there are Albanians. The way airlines decide on nee flights is a bit more complicated but totally uneducated guess would be that Skopje <-> NYC would be a better option than Tirana or Pristina, geographically. Skopje is at worst 4h away from Tirana, Pristina, Sofia and Thessaloniki. Think about BG and GR diaspora as well :)

      Delete
    21. Anonymous03:28

      I understand albanians are there to
      But im saying theyre albanians from Macedonia in that area more than 40k people and in all usa 65k
      Plus albanians from albania and kosova 1 milion people

      Delete
    22. Anonymous21:38

      SKP geographically would best serve all both MKD and Albanians. There are lots of people living in TRI-State area that can produce alot of passengers for a JFK-SKP route.

      Delete
    23. Anonymous03:16

      North macedonia diaspora in ny connecticut and new yersey are 40- 50k plus
      Who said the main one is chicago
      Theyre 16k people frok debar live in new yersey and new york
      Struga people another 10 to 15k in new yersey and Connecticut
      Ohrid people another 5000 in Connecticut nnew yersey and new york
      Macedonian muslims 10k in Connecticut new yersey pensylvania and Connecticut
      Only albanian from north macedonia are 65.000 people
      Plus turkish and macedonian muslims 15 to 20k
      Thats almost 80k

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:22

    Flights to Ohrid are a must.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:25

    So maybe we see TK start third daily flight to Skopje and introduce some new routes via Anadolujet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      Most likely

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:25

      Where does Anadolujet have bases?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:22

      Ankara, Antalya and Istanbul Sabiha SAW.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:29

    Ankara-Skopje flights incoming

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      I wonder what demand there is for these flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      There was an article here a year or two ago that it is among Skopje's top unserved routes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:38

      Yes, Ankara is 9th

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:31

    Nice but we already have flights to/ from Turkey. Focus on securing LHR, AMS, CDG and MUC. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      Or bringing back airlines that flew before the pandemic like Qatar and Flydubai.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:39

    Great airline. Would love to see them do more on the market.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:39

    Sooner or later TAV will finally make some deal with TK in Macedonia. They have been trying to get them on board for the new national airline

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:26

      Don't think the current government is interested in any sort of national airline.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:40

    Good that they have the initiative.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:44

    I think they could introduce OHD as seasonal next summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      I'm currently in Ohrid and there are a lot of Turkish people visiting the lake town

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:48

    SKP needs a national carrier. A joint venture between the government and Turkish Airlines, similar to what they have in Albania would be perfect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:26

      It would be a waste of money. Similar to previous national airline attempts.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:53

    Hope to see more of them in SKP.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      We see a lot of them already :D

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:56

    Great. Finally some new flights to Skopje

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:58

    We already have multiple flights and options to IST so it woukd be nice to see another point in Turkey added.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:58

    I would prefer if SKP would try and attract some European legacies like Air France, KLM, British Airways, Lufthansa that can offer good onward connections. We already have so many flights to Turkey

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      lol. There is simply demand for Turkey

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:02

      20% of the tourists in Macedonia are from Turkey so this is no surprise

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:03

      TK flies to almost every village in the world and has more connections than all of the carriers you mentioned.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:03

      Also, they offer a better product both in economy and premium compared to e.g. BA

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:06

      @10.02

      What are the other main tourists in Macedonia?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:13

      I want to see Norwegian, TUI and Eurowings from Macedonian airports.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:28

      ^ ok...

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:22

      you have TUI already ... with two routes

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:59

    Ankara, at least maybe for 2 or 3 times per week.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:05

    Good job, Macedonia!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:15

    TK is a good airline and with TK there is a future.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous10:17

    TK should add more frequencies on route Skopje-Istanbul, there is large demand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:28

      They probably will. That was the plan before the pandemic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:50

      Afternoon departure

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:29

    3rd daily Skopje flight and that pendant means we will never see QR and FZ again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:44

      Yes don't we will see them back

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:14

      "We"

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:30

    Anadolujet's Antalya flights could go year round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:44

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:45

      Would there really be demand for Antalya in winter?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:48

      Southern Turkey has lovely weather all year round and is perfect for tourist visits

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:49

      Yes it can

      Delete
  25. Anonymous10:46

    Excellent development.

    I think we may see

    - 3rd daily TK flight to Skopje
    - TK launching seasonal Ohrid flights
    - AnadoluJet launching Ankara-Skopje flights

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:49

      Agree. I believe all three are realistic and will happen next summer.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous11:19

    I believe Anadolu will want to open SKP-Dalaman seasonals (it was reported earlier that both cities want a summer connection). Beside that resumption of OHD-Istanbul (was it Onur until 2019?). Pegasus announced charters from Izmir in 2019 but then Corona came

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous11:25

    Pegasus suits OHD better I think

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous12:16

    I think it is not possible for direct flight from Macedonia to the USA or Canada. There are no more then 100.000 people of our diaspora living there as of some results from statistic , so it is not financially good not for airline neither for a government to support that.

    In other hand there is a option Skopje - New York or Newark ,via Istanbul with stop , and

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:12

      Not even EU ZAG, LJU or OTP have flights to the US...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous02:30

      You have to understand that they are more than half Million Albanian from Kosova in USA and from prishtina to skopje he takes not even 50 minutes ride so the Macedonian government needs to finish the highway from the border of macedonia to skopje Airport because Kosovo already spend it $600 million in a highway from prishtina to the macedonian border if they do that that you have a potential to fly from skopje to New York because 80% of the albanians which flying to Europe to come to Kosovo they will fly directly from USA to Skopje

      Delete
  29. Anonymous12:23

    I press publish wrong: Or Skopje - Toronto with stop in Istanbul , that is more likely to be more realistic scenario.

    Or maybe Turkish will add some airports as Frankfurt , Amsterdam or even Paris , I think Tav ,Turkish and Macedonian government wants to connect Skopje with more european cities , and also here will be Istanbul 3x daily , Ohrid and maybe some new Turkish cities where tourist from both countries will go.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:00

      I don't see an airline of a sovereign country acting as a national carrier of another. Unless they set up a local airline.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:02

      It is not that uncommon. Chile's LATAM has national airline status in Peru, Brazil, Uruguay and Ecuador. Ethiopian Airlines flies from several African countries to third destinations too.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous13:59

    Maybe we see more competition on the Macedonian market among Turkish carriers. Pegasus just announced some new routes from Ankara. Maybe they try to be quicket than TK and also launch Skopje soon.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous14:14

    Maybe the plan is Macedonia be the centre of connecting the country to the US and Canada for Macedonia , Albania , Kosovo citizens , but I still believe that direct flight is not financial good, unless with stop in Istanbul.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:29

      With stop in Istanbul? What are you talking about?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:52

      Only option is using SKP as work-around for slots. TK always looking for extra slots from LAX/JFK and if there are enough demand they might consider this as a work-around option. I don’t think Macedonia/Albania/Kosovo can even fill up narrow body for US flights.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous15:51

    If Turkish starts flying from SKP to US, where will additional transfer passengers come from? The only option is Air Albania bringing trasfers from TIA and PRN to SKP, but those airports also want US flights.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous17:00

    From Skopje to Istanbul then Newark/Chicago , additional passengers will get in the plane from Istanbul , because in Skopje there will be probably not enough passengers , I know alot of routes like that .. I waa flying with KLM from Aruba to Amsterdam via Aruba ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:14

      That doesn't make any sense.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous17:01

    Via Bonaire*

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous19:10

    SKP, the leader of the Balkana! No flights to Europe but let's launch long-haul JFK! Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous19:45

    Why not , Macedonian diaspora is strong in North America!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:09

      Like 80k
      65k of them are albanian
      Plus albanian from kosovo will
      Come
      Potential 400k to 500k of them are in usa

      Delete
  37. Anonymous22:53

    I'll be Happy if TK stars direct Istanbul-Detroit, as many mention here before, one of the biggest Macedonian diaspora is in Detroit and unfortunately at this point there is no option to Fly DTW-SKP with one stop. Only 2+ stops are possible and the tickets are crazy expensive. Even there are many flight from Detroit to AMS(4 daily), CDG(2 daily), FRA (2), LHR, ROM, Lufthansa is starting MUC also, because SKP doesn't have any direct flight to any of the Europe's main hubs we can't go DTW-SKP with one stop.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous19:27

    I hope UNESCO will never allow mass tourism in Ohrid and surrounding lake. North Macedonia in general and Ohrid in particular should be protected, not only against mass tourism but also against the terrible pollution and foreign (USA/EU) interference in the country.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous05:44

      It is this kind of thinking that keeps a place poor and undeveloped…

      Delete
  39. Anonymous05:21

    Ohrid plans to extend the terminal to 1 milion passengers
    If number extends 800k tav will request goverment to invest into new terminal for 2 to 3 milion passengers.plus runway will have to extend to 3km
    Ohrid airport is 1km more closer with struga city than ohrid
    Defacto is more like in struga side than ohrid
    Making a new terminal for couple milion people doesnt effect the lake and the fauna of ohrid at all

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hopefully, they started their flight as soon as possible.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous17:49

    Transatlantic flights from Skopje while not even offering any kind of long-haul except IST. Only possibility if TK couldn’t get JFK/LAX spots and needs another flight desperately so they can try this work-around. But first they need to establish ESB and ADB flights from Skopje and start flights from Ohrid.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I would prefer if SKP would try and attract some European legacies like Air France

    ReplyDelete

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