Skopje Alexander the Great Airport will soon see flights to six new destinations. The new routes come as a result of the international tender call to low cost airlines which offers government subsidies to those willing to operate flights to the Macedonian capital. The Macedonian Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, said yesterday that the tender is in its final phase and details are soon to be released. However, he did confirm that the new destinations will be Munich, Dortmund, Basel, Eindhoven, Malmo and Milan.

It is being tipped that Wizz Air, which already operates flights from Treviso and London to the Macedonian capital will operate the bulk of the newly announced flights, while easyJet will take the Basel – Skopje route. However, precise details will be announced on June 21. All of the new services are set to begin at the start of the 2012/2013 winter season in late October. The flights will be subsidised over the next three years. Recently, Flydubai also announced its service launch to Skopje from Dubai on October 18.

Macedonian airports are recording the strongest growth in the region this year. The positive trend continued in May as well. Skopje and Ohrid handled a combined total 75.479 passengers, an increase of 14% compared to the same month last year. The exceptional result is despite a sharp decline in the number of operated flights of up to 15%. In the first five months of the year, the two airports welcomed 314.854 passengers through its doors, up 20% on 2011.