Skopje, 20 July 2023 (MIA) – In the January – June 2023 period, 1.338.406 passengers traveled through the Skopje International Airport and Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport, which is an annual increase of 41 percent compared to 2022, said the operator of both Macedonian airports, TAV Macedonia, in a press release.

TAV Macedonia also recorded 15 percent more passengers in the first half of 2023, compared to 2019, which is considered a reference year in aviation, as it was the strongest year in terms of passenger traffic before the Covid-19 crisis emerged.

In terms of the number of flights for the same period, there is a 23 percent annual increase, or a total of 10.299 flights have been serviced at both airports.

“With the summer season being at its peak, and with the traffic figures summarized for the first half of 2023, or for the period January – June, we as TAV are happy to note a strong positive recovery trend and increase in passenger number figures by 41 percent compared to last year. Not only that the positive trend of 2022 continues, but it also exceeds 2019 level and *ACI’s European airport passenger traffic forecasts of -9 percent for 2023. We have 15 percent more passengers than 2019, which was the strongest year in terms of air traffic before Covid-19. Such an increase in the number of passengers is evidence and a result of our dedication, commitment, results and customer-oriented work and organization management. We are glad to see that the surge in air travel continues in 2023, and with travelers’ confidence in air traffic being back, combined with our excellence in airport service quality, we expect that this year will be a year of reaching new milestones in air traffic figures for both Macedonian airports,” said Nejat Kurt, the General Manager of TAV Macedonia.

The most frequent destinations from the Skopje International Airport according to TAV Macedonia passenger traffic statistics, for the first half of 2023, January – June, were Istanbul (both airports, IGA and Sabiha Gokcen with 11.4 percent market share), Basel Mulhouse (6.7 percent), Zurich (5.9 percent), Dortmund (4.9 percent), Vienna (4.6 percent), followed by Munich Memmingen (4.3 percent), Frankfurt (3.5 percent), Malmö (2.9 percent) and Cologne (2.6 percent).

On the other hand, the most frequent travel destination for the first half of 2023, from the Ohrid Airport, was Basel (23.7 percent market share), followed by Vienna (22.6 percent), Dortmund (17.9 percent), Memmingen (11.8 percent), Malmö (8.6 percent), Zurich (8.4 percent), Amsterdam (6.1 percent), and the other destinations have 0.2 percent.

The top 5 countries with direct flights in the January – June 2023 period were Germany (27.9 percent market share); Switzerland (14.6 percent); Turkey (14.5 percent); Italy (7.4 percent) and Sweden (6.9 percent).  

Regarding airlines’ share in passenger traffic for the first six months of 2023 at the Skopje Airport, Wizz Air transported the largest number of passengers (64.6 percent market share), followed by Turkish Airlines (6.6 percent), Pegasus Airlines (6.5 percent), Austrian Airlines (4.6 percent), Chair Airlines (4 percent). 

Currently and according to the summer flight schedule, there are 21 airlines operating from the Skopje International Airport servicing 47 destinations, whereas, at Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport, 6 airlines service 12 destinations.

Photo: TAV Macedonia