Photo credit: Skopje Airport
Skopje and Sofia again air connected. The regular flights between the two capitals will start operating in March. The agreement was reached yesterday in Skopje between the ministers of transport and tour operators from both countries, after they landed in Sofia in the morning with the first flight after a 15-year break. The first flight was operated with ATR72-600 aircraft by GullivAir and lasted around 35 minutes.
This is an initial agreement. It is not yet known how much the ticket will cost, whether the flight of the Bulgarian company Gulliver is subsidized and how often it will be flown to the destination. In the next period, the tour operators will look for opportunities for other destinations between the two countries. It is only known that the flights will be launched on 27 March.
The Bulgarian Minister is convinced that a model is being created that is economically viable and that will revive business activities.
In 2021, the number of Bulgarian tourists in Macedonia has doubled, informed the Minister of Economy. With the re-launch of the route, we expect this number to grow significantly, says Bekteshi.
According to the announcements, Skopje and Sofia airports will support a program to stimulate new flights for the Sofia - Skopje route not to last only six months as it was in the period between 2007 and 2009. There are also talks on introducing flights from Sofia to Ohrid and from Varna and Burgas to Skopje and Ohrid.
Minister Bochvarski announced that tour operators and aviation authorities from both countries will continue to cooperate to open future, third destinations that would be formed with the route Sofia - Skopje.
Photo credit: Skopje Airport
"I want to convince the citizens of both countries that we are opening the door for them to travel freely from North Macedonia to Bulgaria, to use the benefits and to create more opportunities for tourism, economy, cultural and sports exchange, which we will succeed as two friendly countries. we will show the region and Europe how we should cooperate" - Bochvarski said.
His colleague Sabev emphasized that the Sofia - Skopje airline should provide an opportunity for a larger package of many business activities that will provide an even better economic standard.
Photo credit: Skopje Airport
"We noticed great interest from the Macedonian and Bulgarian tour operators. The biggest investors in the tourism business also came from Bulgaria. We saw a lot of interest in using that bridge between the two ministries of transport to look for new opportunities. We are talking about providing better economic conditions for people in Bulgaria and Macedonia to receive much better offers to travel quickly, easily and pleasantly. And after that to inform their neighbors and friends", Sabev said.
Greater development of tourism with the opening of the Sofia-Skopje airline is expected by the Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi. In 2021, the number of Bulgarian tourists doubled compared to 2020, and 500,000 Macedonian citizens visited Bulgaria in 2019.
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