Direct flights to Oslo and Friedrichshafen were inaugurated from the Alexander the Great Airport in Skopje, which are part of the five new destinations of the low cost airline Wizz Air with subsidizes provided by the Macedonian government.

On Tuesday, a Wizz Air flight will be launched to Barcelona enabling Macedonia for the first time ever to be connected by air with Spain. Moreover on Wednesday, the Skopje Airport will launch new flights to Hamburg and Nurnberg.

The new flights will be realized twice a week.

“By introducing new lines, we are creating an opportunity for the citizens with affordable air tickets to visit the most attractive cities in Europe in a bid to develop the economy, education, culture, healthcare and tourism,” Minister of Transport and Communications Vlado Misajlovski said at a promotion of the flights.

The government polices on subsidizing new airlines have generated results, according to him calling them ‘justified’.

As of 2012, Wizz Air with financial support provided by the government has introduced 20 destinations across Europe and is transporting a half of the total number of passengers, i.e. 50.2%. It is expected the number to rise significantly with the new destinations.

Over 506,000 passengers have travelled in the first five months, which is a 17% increase compared to the previous year. “This government aims to surpass the number of 1,278,000 passengers that were served at the Macedonian airports last year by introducing the new flights,” stated Misajlovski.

According to a contract with Wizz Air on subsidizing air flights from 2015 to 2018, a direct line to Basel is going to be introduced as of 1 July. This flight, the Minister added, will contribute to using the capacities of the Ohrid-based St. Paul the Apostle Airport and attracting foreign tourists and foreign investments and stimulating economic growth and development of Ohrid.

With the five new flights, Wizz Air brings the total of destinations available from the Skopje Airport to 19. The low cost company in 2014 transported roughly 600,000 passengers from Macedonia.