Skopje, 8 November 2022 (MIA) – The Government adopted Tuesday a new decree on the procedure and criteria for awarding financial support to domestic or foreign airlines in the next two years and the necessary documentation to be delivered by the beneficiaries of the support. The Program on allocating funds for financial support to domestic or foreign carriers in the 2023-2025 period, in order to encourage and develop the air traffic in North Macedonia, was adopted at a Government session on Tuesday, the Government said in a press release. “In line with these decisions, the Government, through the Ministry of Transport and Communications, will issue a public call for financial support to airlines that will introduce new flight destinations for the citizens. Enabling travel to additional destinations in Europe and the world will also mean open opportunities for economic development, promotion of tourism and cultural exchange and cooperation between the citizens and the business sector of North Macedonia and other countries,” reads the press release. Minister of Transport and Communications, Blagoj Bochvarski, recently told MIA that a decree defining a new model for allocating financial support to airlines was submitted to the Government for consideration. Flights will be subsidized, he said, in accordance with the EU state aid policy. “It will be possible to include as many carriers as possible so we are not tied to just one. Additionally, we are limiting the intensity of subsidizing in line with the European Commission’s recommendations, in order to enable as many destinations as possible for the citizens and in order to develop our air traffic. The air carriers which offer larger aircraft, direct flights to larger airports and several flights a week will receive priority. The contract will state that the carrier will have to continue servicing the routes after the end of the contract term, for the period that it has received state support,” said Bochvarski. The last of the three contracts for subsidized flights which were received by Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizzair ended on March 1, 2022. In 2019, Mden 66,584,935 were paid for subsidized flights, Mden 21,098,924 in 2020 , Mden 10,475,649 in 2021 , and no funds have been paid this year. With the winter flight schedule, in force since October 30, there are a total of 41 flight destinations from the Skopje airport, with 13 airlines, while the Ohrid airport has seven regular destinations with four airlines. The two airports in the country have registered over 1.8 million passengers (1,811,168) and 14,823 flights from January to the end of September 2022. ad/nn/