Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) is the preferred candidate in the Macedonian government's quest to find a new national carrier for the country. According to EX-YU Aviation News, the development comes on the back of a Civil Aviation Agency of Macedonia decision to award the Turkish carrier “regular carrier” status in 2012 thereby giving it exclusivity in its choice of destinations in addition to landing and handling fee exemptions at Ohrid and Skopje.
The Turkish-based airport management firm, TAV, which oversees Skopje and Ohrid airports, has also been lobbying hard for its counterparts to develop the Macedonian airport into a base.
Turkish's services to the former Yugoslavian republic current constitute a multiple weekly service to Istanbul Atatürk.
MAT Macedonian Airlines (Skopje), the country's last government-backed national carrier, collapsed in 2009, followed by Mat Airways (Skopje), its last privately-backed national airline, which collapsed in 2011.
