Qatar Airways has shelved plans to resume operations from Doha to both Sarajevo and Skopje at the start of the 2020/2021 winter season in late October. Services to both cities were suspended in March and were to be restored on October 25. However, all ticket sales have now been halted until the start of the 2021 summer season from March 28. The Qatari carrier is instead offering one-stop connections to the capitals of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia via Zagreb, Vienna and Istanbul in cooperation with Croatia Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Pegasus Airlines throughout the winter, Ex-Yu Aviation news portal reports.
The carrier first introduced services to both Sarajevo and Skopje back in 2017 and has maintained them continuously with its Airbus A320 fleet until the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Flydubai will continue to link Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia with the Middle East this winter. The hybrid carrier, which has already resumed flights to Sarajevo, will serve the city three times per week past October 25, while services to Skopje resume on October 26 and will run twice per week. Qatar Airways handled 25. 856 passengers on flights to and from the Macedonian capital last year.