The Macedonian Minister for Transport, Aleksandar Nikoloski, has confirmed that discussions are underway relating to the introduction of flights from Saudi Arabia to Skopje and Ohrid. He didn’t specify which airline is concerned, though low value service Flynas has lately expanded inside the area by launching companies to Pristina, complementing its present operations to Sarajevo and Tirana. “Direct talks have begun with Saudi Arabia to ascertain air visitors between the 2 international locations, which is able to additional broaden the flight community to Macedonia. We’ll proceed with this coverage of incentivising new air routes”, Mr Nikoloski mentioned.
Skopje Airport has been searching for to safe hyperlinks to the Gulf for the previous 5 years, following the suspension of companies by Flydubai and Qatar Airways within the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. Saudi Arabia is actively encouraging Kingdom-based carriers to broaden their worldwide networks by means of the Saudi Air Connectivity Program, which supplies assist to each native and worldwide carriers to launch new flights from the nation. Its CEO, Majid Khan, beforehand informed EX-YU Aviation Information the nation is trying to broaden its footprint within the Balkans.
Mr Nikoloski anticipates for Macedonia’s two worldwide airports – Skopje and Ohrid – to deal with a mixed complete of over 4 million passengers this yr. “We launched a severe technique to draw new airways and routes, making an allowance for that Macedonia has no entry to the ocean and that its airports characterize our solely gateway to the world. That is key to bringing in additional vacationers and enterprise travellers, whereas additionally creating extra alternatives for Macedonian residents to journey”, Mr Nikoloski mentioned. He added, “I’m significantly happy that each Ohrid and Skopje airports have surpassed 3.5 million passengers [in 2025]. Contemplating that Macedonia has a inhabitants of 1.8 million, it’s clear that visitors volumes considerably exceed the scale of our home market”. Mr Nikoloski additional acknowledged that Skopje Airport is on monitor to document the strongest progress within the former Yugoslav area this yr, describing it as a matter of pleasure provided that Zagreb, Sarajevo and Belgrade are all bigger cities than Skopje.
