Turkish airport operator TAV- Airports operates 90 airports in 29 countries worldwide and provides integrated services in all areas of airport operations. As a member of Groupe ADP, the company is one of the world’s leading airport management companies. Since 2010, it has also been operating the two Macedonian airports Skopje and Ohrid.
aeroTELEGRAPH spoke with TAV Macedonia General Manager Metin BATAK about the current developments in the small Balkan state.
What potential did airport operator TAV see in Macedonia before the takeover and what has changed since then?
Metin Batak:
When we applied to the Macedonian government’s public tender for the concession of Skopje and Ohrid airports in 2008, we saw huge growth potential for Skopje airport as the main airport and for Ohrid airport with its tourism potential, as both were underserved in terms of number of destinations and airlines.
Therefore, we matched our offer to the potential and development opportunities of the Macedonian airports and eventually won the concession for the two airports. We then took over the operation of Skopje and Ohrid airports on 1 March 2010. As the first project, we built a completely new terminal building for Skopje Airport with an increased capacity for up to 4 million passengers per year within one year, which was put into operation on 8 September 2011, the Independence Day of Northern Macedonia.
Under the concession agreement with the government, TAV Macedonia manages all areas of airport operations in Skopje and Ohrid, including ground handling, terminal operations and security, while the rest of the airport services are covered by subsidiaries. This holistic approach allows us to thoroughly understand the needs and expectations of passengers and quickly develop innovative solutions.
In addition to investing in capacity, as TAV we have invested heavily in developing the route network at both airports. As a result, the number of passengers at Skopje Airport has quadrupled in 10 years, from once 600,000 passengers in 2009, to a peak of 2.4 million passengers in pre-Covid year 2019.
The number of passengers at Ohrid Airport has increased ninefold in the same period, from 36,600 passengers in 2009 to 313,000 passengers in 2019. The number of flights at both airports has increased by 71% in the aforementioned 10 years, highlighting the dramatic growth of the two Macedonian airports under TAV’s management.
With double-digit annual growth in passenger numbers, Skopje Airport became one of the fastest growing airports in the Balkans before the start of the Covid 19 crisis.
TAV is the operator of Macedonia’s airports until 2032. What are your long-term investment plans?
Since entering the market until 2020, we have invested a total of 110 million euros in both Skopje and Ohrid airports. This year alone, we have invested 7.5 million euros in the rehabilitation of the runway at Skopje Airport. One of the next investment projects is a new terminal building at Ohrid Airport that will double passenger capacity. The airport’s current terminal building has already reached its maximum capacity of 300,000 passengers in 2019.
The summer is coming to an end, how satisfied are you with the business so far?
We are satisfied with the recovery of air traffic at Skopje and Ohrid airports. When EU countries started lifting travel restrictions related to Covid 19 documents for Macedonian passport holders this year, the increase in air traffic was felt immediately.
TAV Macedonia ended the first eight months of the year with a total of 1.5 million passengers (1,549,440) at the two Macedonian airports – Skopje and Ohrid. While this is a decrease of 13% compared to the same period of the pre-Corona year 2019, it is a very good increase of plus 83% compared to last year.
This increase is due to the increase in services, but mainly due to the increase in flight frequencies from Skopje just to Turkey, Egypt, Germany and Switzerland. From Ohrid Airport this year, in addition to the scheduled programme, there were also seasonal connections to Zurich, Eindhoven, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Katowice.
How long do you think it will take before you can match the passenger numbers you had before the pandemic?
As we know, air transport is the sector that was and still is most affected by the covid pandemic. All over the world there have been airport closures of one kind or another, followed by new covid-19 related requirements and restrictions on air travel. However, no other mode of transport was as burdened with new regulations, prohibitions and requirements for various documents as air transport of passengers.
In Macedonia, for example, the two airports were completely closed to passenger traffic by the government for 3.5 months in 2020 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. After reopening the airports in July 2020, another obstacle stood in the way.
Macedonian passport holders needed an important reason to travel to most EU countries. It is important to note that over 75% of Macedonian air traffic has so far been concentrated on European destinations. But things gradually improved, so that in 2021 some countries replaced the essential reason requirement with proof of vaccination. Most of the routes that had been suspended by airlines in 2020 were reintroduced into the regular schedule at the start of the 2022 summer season.
But the pandemic is not the only obstacle on the road to air traffic recovery. Finally, just as we were saying, “OK, the situation is stabilising and we can now focus on winning back the lost routes and growing the business further, a new crisis emerged worldwide – the energy resources crisis”.
Besides low-cost airlines, Turkish airlines dominate the market, what about the rest of the supply?
We are in constant communication and negotiation with different airlines, both low-cost airlines and network airlines, because we want the Macedonian aviation market to develop and greater competition is always a growth accelerator.
Our promotional activities, which are carried out as part of TAV- Airports’ marketing strategy for all the airports in the group, include meetings and participation in aviation and tourism fairs, where we promote not only Ohrid and Skopje as airports, but also the two cities and Macedonia as an undiscovered destination.
Almost all the destinations we had before the pandemic are back, except for the routes to Doha and Dubai, which were served from Skopje airport and were good connecting flights for our diaspora in Australia and New Zealand, as well as for travellers to Japan, China, India and other exotic destinations in the East. We are in constant contact with both Qatar Airways and Fly Dubai, but it is their decision to resume the destinations.
Other routes that we relaunched during the Covid 19 pandemic, such as to Moscow and St. Petersburg (North Wind) and Kiev (Windrose), were discontinued with the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Many Balkan countries have a large diaspora in North America, would Skopje have the potential for long-haul flights?
Macedonia and all Balkan countries have a large diaspora in the US and Canada, mainly concentrated in Chicago, New York and Toronto. Currently, Macedonian citizens use Istanbul, Vienna, Warsaw and Belgrade as connecting airports to fly to the North American continent.
TAV Macedonia is ready to provide “maximum support” to any airline considering the introduction of transatlantic flights from the Macedonian capital. Skopje Airport has the operational capacity to handle such transatlantic flights and is ready to support airlines considering doing so.
The Balkan region is not yet mature in terms of connectivity to US and Canadian destinations. Most passengers from the Balkan region still have to change planes at least once to take a transatlantic flight, which is a hassle. If Skopje succeeds in offering a transatlantic flight in the future, this would be beneficial for the entire Balkan region. A non-stop flight to North America would increase the overall travel comfort for passengers originating from Macedonia and lead to additional feeder flights from the Balkan region to Skopje. The airport would thus undoubtedly attract many passengers from the surrounding countries.
Currently, there are only scheduled flights from Skopje to Zagreb and Belgrade. Is there no demand on the market for other destinations in former Yugoslavia?
Currently, there are indeed only regular flights from Skopje Airport to Belgrade with Air Serbia and to Zagreb with Croatia Airlines.
Until the bankruptcy of Slovenian airline Adria Airways in 2019, there were direct flights between Skopje and Ljubljana, but now this route is no longer served, although there is demand, especially from business travellers, Macedonian students in Slovenia and expatriates who need frequent flights between Macedonia and Slovenia. We are working to find a solution to this issue. We have also already held talks with the national Montenegrin airline to connect Skopje and Podgorica, while the opening of a Skopje-Sarajevo route has been announced at government level.
Ultimately, however, airlines assess the load factor and profitability of a route, so it will be their decision to launch new routes.
Are there other markets where you see the potential for launching scheduled services to Skopje and Ohrid?
The route network of both Skopje and Ohrid airports is mainly focused on the west and north of geographical Europe. Of course, there are other markets that need to be served. We focus on building connections with the main hubs and capitals in Western Europe and few connections to Eastern Europe. But we also need to re-establish connections to the Middle East and North America. We have a large diaspora living in Australia and New Zealand, but because of the long distance, these flights are not feasible at the moment.
Martin Dichler