Wizz Air is discontinuing a sixth route from its Skopje base for the upcoming summer season. The airline will cease flights between the Macedonian capital and Budapest on March 9. Operating twice per week, this route joins the already announced cancellations of services to Salzburg, Bremen and Stockholm Skavsta, which also ran twice per week, as well as Copenhagen and Cologne, which operated three weekly. All six destinations were initially scheduled to be maintained this summer. Wizz Air first launched flights between Skopje and Budapest in April 2017, while Malev previously served the route from 2002 until its collapse in 2012.
Wizz Air is set to launch new routes from Skopje to Lyon on May 1, Barcelona on May 3, and Stuttgart on September 29. Flights to Lyon and Stuttgart will operate three times per week, while the Barcelona route will have two weekly rotations. In addition to these new services, the airline is increasing frequencies on flights from Skopje to Bologna, Rome, Friedrichshafen, Baden Baden, and Gothenburg by one weekly flight, while Basel and Hahn will see an increase of two weekly rotations. Conversely, frequencies to Beauvais and Malta will be reduced by one weekly flight, while Eindhoven will see a reduction of two weekly rotations.
Wizz Air continues to update its summer schedule and more changes are likely. Managing Director of Wizz Air Hungary, Roland Tischner, recently said, “Like many other airlines, ours was hit by supply chain issues, especially with regard to GTF engines. Due to production issues, many of these engines were recalled for inspection and we had to park part of our fleet. This led to a reduction in some of our capacities and therefore some of the destinations for our customers. The good news is that with the new deliveries from Airbus we can gradually restore the fleet, increase capacity and some of these destinations may return soon. We have long-term cooperation with Skopje Airport. We like this airport, and we are very satisfied with its performance. There are certain limitations in terms of airport infrastructure”.
So much for their expansion.
ReplyDeleteThey are expanding elsewhere in Europe, just not in our region.
Delete^ they are expanding where they have strong competition.
DeleteLosing six routes and gaining three is not what I call an expansion. Wizz Air should be honest about why they’re cutting so much from Skopje.
DeleteGovernment should speak to Ryan and pay them substitute and bring it to us!!
DeleteWe would easily like Tirana get over Zag and Beg in few years.
Wizz Air is treating Skopje like a low-priority market.
DeleteThe key is COMPETITION from another LCC.
DeleteThe meteoric growth of TIA proves it.
It is never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket.
10:29 LOL
DeleteMuch as government subsides, as much the music. No more money, no more flying!
DeleteHey I don’t really understand but are they gonna open back the route from Skopje to Stockholm Skavsta ? And if so when ?
DeleteThey canceled my Ljubljana flight too
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that's the 4th weekly flight they scheduled and then cancelled?
DeleteIt was a sunday flight in the first weeky of June
DeleteWizz Air is becoming unreliable. If they keep playing around with route cancellations and frequencies, people will look for alternatives.
DeleteWizzair has been unreliable pretty much since inception. Only usable for holiday travel pretty much.
DeleteThey became very unreliable during Covid and continued with the practice afterwards.
DeleteIt kind of makes sense to me that SKP is not their priority. They have 60% market share and over 90% LCC share in Macedonia. They virtually have no competition, and their position is in no way under threat.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteYesterday they were also celebrating about the fact that they hold 70% LCC share in BEG.
+1
DeleteAgree. They are putting resources and capacity where they need to fend off competition.
DeleteSo they will have less flights than last year from SKP?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteI doubt that their Pratt situation will be resolved completely by net year.
Delete@Anon 09:04 Wizz has said thay they expect their Pratt situation to last atleast until 2029/30. Guess that means more cancelations from SKP
Delete^^^ WOW! 😮
DeleteThey are not gonna have less flights than last year, in fact they will bring back the sixth jet in September of October.
Delete^ I wouldn't hold my breath.
DeleteAnyone know what were the loads on this route?
ReplyDeleteMostly full, I flew on this route twice last year, once in July and once in October or November it was and both times the flights had around 95% LF.
DeleteZasto onda ukidaju
DeleteWe dont know. Copenhagen, Bremen, Stockholm, Turku, Larnaca were full as well and now they are long gone.
Deletewhat a disappointment this turns out ti be
ReplyDeleteAgree. And they seem to have forgotten that they are supposed to start Ohrid-Basel.
Deletebut the minister says everythings fine
ReplyDeleteDisappointing
ReplyDeleteSo it seems they will have same number of aircraft in SKP as last year.
ReplyDeleteWhen was SJJ-BUD cancelled?
ReplyDeleteJanuary 2021.
DeleteRight after the subsidy was over.
DeleteThat line would work wonders now, the living standard and demand for travel is the highest it has been, Budapest is super popular and it's also fairly close to Vienna which is served by OS often charging 250€ one way
DeleteObviously not, since both flights have been cancelled.
DeleteThey can travel to BUD via BEG.
How much JU charges from SJJ to BUD?
DeleteThey needed the plane elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteThe plane stays at SKP, still 5 aircraft for this summer, no change, and this route was operated from SKP base.
DeleteDid these flights originate from BUD or was it operated by SKP based plane?
ReplyDeleteSKP Planes.
DeleteWizz Air is slowly killing connectivity from Skopje.
ReplyDeleteYes, if Wizz Air cancels a few more flights, we’ll all have to start using horses and carriages again.
DeleteLOL
DeleteYou have OU.
DeleteThank god for OU/ Croatia in Skopje, at least they are reliable, in particular for non-touristic travel. And you get to fly on A220, what a delight of an airplane. I just booked Skopje- Brussels - Skopje, and price-wise they seem to have got competitive than Lufthansa and Austrian, which was not the case up until a month ago or so. Is this A220 extra capacity helping, fuel price hedging or other factors I wonder?
DeleteThis is what happens when a single airline dominates an airport.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteAt least we’re getting Barcelona and Lyon. I just hope they stay on the schedule for more than one season.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air might bring some of these flights back next year.
ReplyDeleteWhy do they always cut routes before summer when demand is highest? This doesn’t make sense.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air’s "strategy" feels like throwing darts at a map and deciding what to cut at random.
DeleteBecause during Summer they sift capacity to Mediterranean holiday destinations where they make the most money.
Delete+1
ReplyDeleteWizz Air giveth and Wizz Air taketh away. Skopje needs a backup plan ASAP!
ReplyDeleteWizz Air should just announce all cuts at once instead of slowly removing routes. This way, passengers are constantly left wondering.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWizz Air always promotes "big expansion plans" but quietly removes routes later.
DeleteWizz Air built its reputation in Skopje, and now they’re slowly ruining it.
ReplyDeleteHuge mistake and bad hope from our new government , they must seek new companies immediatly
Delete^ True dat!
DeleteSkopje Airport should do more to attract other airlines. We can't rely on Wizz Air forever.
ReplyDeleteWell Transavia comes in 10 days and easyJet is also coming back. So they are clearly doing something.
DeleteIts not abot the airport , our government have close relations with Hungary and W6 and thats the problem , and thats why we rely on them which is huge mistake
Delete^^^ You do realize that the Hungarian government has no shares in W6, a US fund from Texas (Indigo partners) is their main shareholders and the airline is listed in the London and Amsterdam stock exchanges, not Budapest's?
DeleteSo why our government is not looking for something new to bring to the country , why rely only on them if they are no related to hungarian government as you say?
DeleteI'm sorry but it is not the government's job to bring airlines. The private airport operator should be doing that.
DeleteCutting 6 routes , adding 3 new , typical Wizz way of work :D this basicly says 2025 will also be death for SKP thankful to W6 , no increase no new destinations just cuttings .. not good at all , Macedonia must look for alternative and bringing new companies as soon as possible!!
ReplyDeleteYes routes are cutting but they use that extra capacity on the existing routes, same number of flights and same number of aircraft deployed they will have this summer just like the previous. Also London Luton is growing from three to four weekly.
DeleteYes but they add only 3 new routes which is small amount of what they are getting from the country. I think this is game they cut the routes now and next year they will apply subsidies for the same ones
DeleteVery bad relations to Hungary and our government brings this , big mistake and very bad hope that W6 is doing ok ... I hope government will wake up and start doing back up plan
ReplyDeleteConsidering they are getting new planes, I hope they will be able to slowly increase frequencies from late September and that next winter season will be much better.
ReplyDeleteI hoped that would happen at the start of summer...
DeleteYes, losing Budapest is bad but at least we’re getting some new options too. I will take Barcelona over Budapest any day.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteMaybe Budapest will return next year once they resolve their fleet issues. Airlines adjust routes all the time.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice but I think this is the last we will see Budapest in a while.
DeleteThey were doing this as well in Sarajevo before they closed completely.
ReplyDeleteThey are not gonna close a base which they have for 13 years and it is successful, few days ago they were hiring cabin crew in SKP.
DeleteThe two bases can't be compared.
DeleteWhat I see here is cancelling routes now and most probably when they have more planes next year, they will apply for subsidies for the same routes they are cancelling now.
ReplyDeleteHope so, but it does not necessarily work like that with Wizz. We will see.
Delete^^^ You do realize that the Hungarian government has no shares in W6, a US fund from Texas (Indigo partners) is their main shareholders and the airline is listed in the London and Amsterdam stock exchanges, not Budapest's?
ReplyDeleteNo diaspora to Hungary. Macedonian market is only diaspora.... Sad times, migration, most of jung peoples migrates.
ReplyDeleteI would assume there is sufficient P2P demand.
DeleteYep...about 80 to 85 % of SKP pax are diaspora. But for PRN it is over 95%. That's the reality of the situation.
DeleteAlong with the mentioned routes, MXP is growing from the previously schedule of two weekly to three weekly now, while Basel will be operated 14 times per week from the end of March until May when the new routes start, which is 3 or 4 additional weekly flights compared to last summer. CIA was also twice a week last summer and now will be 3 weekly. I think that they will return the flights to Copenhagen, Bremen and Stockholm later this year.
ReplyDeleteAlso they have add an extra weekly rotation on three routes for April: Hamburg from four to five weekly and Nuremberg and Ljubljana from three to four weekly. No changes as of May but for sure they will use this capacity on other routes as well.
DeleteIt's only added because of Easter. They won't have these increases afterwards.
DeleteAlso MXP was 3 weekly last summer so there is no change.
DeleteIt's written in the article that Rome is increased to 3 weekly.
DeleteThese days W6 also ceased from Sofia - Bologna, Bari and Copenhagen
ReplyDeletewow. Do they have fewer flights than last year?
DeleteOhrid-Basel when ?
ReplyDeleteWhen rooster lays egg
DeleteTheir managing director said they *MIGHT* start this route later. Not a big vote of confidence..
DeleteI have lost all hope with them. They discontinue this route but are introducing DAILY Gatwick-Jeddah flights...
ReplyDeleteMakes a lot of sense
DeleteDid people use this route to self transfer and catch other Wizz flights from Budapest?
ReplyDeleteIt was like an option, for example SKP- BUD and than BUD-DXB
DeleteThey're just going to cancel flights, there's no return ticket under 180 euros. We don't have a standard for those prices.
ReplyDeleteSkopje needs Ryanair. There should be a competition as it's free market.
ReplyDeleteThere is no interest in the Macedonian market, there is still an open tender and there are no applications for new destinations. Only a few destinations that were previously benefiting from the tender .
DeleteMoney, money money...population in the catchment area has very limited purchasing power and that's it.
DeleteTheir name says it all .. Wizz..
ReplyDelete