Skopje, 30 July 2025 (MIA) - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski says the launch of 11 new airlines over the past nine months is already having an effect on tourism.  

In a Kanal 5 TV appearance on Wednesday, Nikoloski noted that the increase in the number of tourists is a result of the support for charter flights and changes to the subsidy policy for arriving passengers. 

According to him, in May 2025, compared to the same month in the previous year, there are 101,000 more tourists, with Skopje being the most popular destination as tourism trends are changing - capital cities are top tourist destinations, followed by Ohrid, and the rest of the country.

"There is a 20 percent increase compared to last year. This is the result of two policies, one of which supports charter flights - at the Skopje Airport, a plane arrives daily with tourists from Germany, France and England, two hundred tourists each day. As of October, there will be two planes arriving at the Ohrid Airport, and there will be 400 tourists daily. In addition to that, we have the charter from Manchester. In just nine months we have opened 11 new airline routes, which of course have an effect because we have changed the subsidy policy, now we have subsidies for arriving passengers. Direct flights change the situation a lot, destinations to Skopje and Ohrid have opened that did not exist before, and these 11 airlines are already having an effect," said Nikoloski. 

Photo: MIA archive