SKOPJE (Macedonia), November 4 (SeeNews) – The Macedonian government said it will subsidize flights linking the capital Skopje and the lakeside resort of Ohrid with destinations in Spain and Norway aiming to promote the country as a tourist destination.
Over the next three years the government will allocate some 5.0 million euro ($6.2 million) to flights from Skopje to four destinations in Spain and Norway, and from Ohrid to one destination, it said in a statement on Monday.
The transport ministry is expected to announce in the first half of 2015 a public call for the selection of an air carrier which will be subsidized, it added.
In 2012, Macedonia decided to subsidize Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air flights linking Skopje and Ohrid with a total of six destinations in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden in a bid to attract more tourists.
The Macedonian government said earlier it allocated 75 million denars ($1.5 million/1.2 million) to subsidies for air transport this year, planning to bring this figure to a total of 306 million denars by the end of 2014.
Air passenger traffic in Macedonia rose 18% to 988,825 in the first nine months of 2014, according to data of Turkey's TAV Airports Holding [BIST:TAVHL], which has been operating the Skopje and Ohrid airports since 2010.
($=0.7805 euro)