Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption Macedonia's Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani was on board the historic flight

The first direct commercial flight between Greece and Macedonia in 12 years took off on Thursday evening.

The Olympic Air flight departed the Greek capital Athens at 18:40 local time (16:40 GMT) for Macedonia's capital Skopje.

The launch of the twice-weekly service follows a deal between the two nations to end a 27-year name dispute.

Macedonia's deputy prime minister - who was in Greece for talks - was on board the historic flight.

Bujar Osmani had travelled to Athens in the wake of the agreement, in which Macedonia said it would formally change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia to assuage Greek fears about claims on its northern region with the same name.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, Mr Osmani said that Greece had become "our greatest ally" and that the "re-establishment of the air corridor" was a symbol of improved relations.

Skopje and Athens had a direct air route from 2003 to 2006. But the move by Macedonia's previous government to rename Skopje's airport after Alexander the Great angered Greece.

Both countries have laid claim to the ancient hero's legacy in the past.

Macedonia's new left-wing government then rebranded it as Skopje International Airport in February as a goodwill gesture, paving the way for Thursday's historic flight.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption Macedonia changed the name of Skopje airport as a goodwill gesture

Macedonia has had nearly three decades of frosty relations with its southern neighbour, following its declaration of independence and adoption of the name Macedonia after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.

Athens agreed to end objections to its neighbour's Nato and European Union membership bids after the name agreement in June.

In October, Macedonia's parliament narrowly voted to start the necessary constitutional process to change its name.</s>SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Macedonia and Greece have restarted direct commercial flights after more than a decade following an agreement to try and end a long-standing dispute over the Balkan republic's name.

Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani was on the Olympic Airlines flight to the Macedonian capital of Skopje on Thursday after talks in Athens. Passengers were handed cookies upon their arrival.

Greece and Macedonia are at odds over the former Yugoslav republic's name which Athens says implies a territorial claim against Greek territory. In June the Macedonian government agreed to rename the country North Macedonia but the deal requires a complicated ratification process.

Direct flights were halted in 2007 when Macedonia's previous conservative government named the Skopje airport after the ancient Greek warrior Alexander the Great, angering Athens. The Skopje airport was renamed earlier this year.

Passengers who get off an Aegean Airlines plane are welcomed with cookies, after landing at Skopje International Airport, Macedonia, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. Direct flights between Macedonia and Greece are set to resume after more than a decade, amid a thaw in relations following a deal to rename Macedonia "North Macedonia." (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)</s>SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Direct flights between Macedonia and Greece are set to resume after more than a decade, amid a thaw in relations following a deal to rename Macedonia “North Macedonia.” Macedonian Deputy Prime…

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Direct flights between Macedonia and Greece are set to resume after more than a decade, amid a thaw in relations following a deal to rename Macedonia “North Macedonia.”

Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani plans to be on the first flight from Athens to Macedonia’s capital of Skopje on Thursday evening. Osmani plans to be in Athens for talks with Greek officials, his office said Wednesday.

TAV Airports, which operates the Skopje airport, said Greece’s Aegean Airlines will carry out the twice-weekly flights.

Skopje and Athens had a direct air link from 2003-2007, but it was stopped after Macedonia’s previous conservative government named the Skopje airport after the ancient Greek warrior king Alexander the Great, angering Athens.

The neighboring countries were at odds for nearly three decades over the Macedonia name. Athens claimed the young nation to its north taking it implied territorial designs on Greece’s Macedonia province and on ancient Greek heritage.

Macedonia’s current left-wing government renamed the airport Skopje International Airport in February as a goodwill gesture. The name change agreement reached in June is in the ratification process.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Passengers who get off an Aegean Airlines plane are welcomed with cookies, after landing at Skopje International Airport, Macedonia, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. Direct flights between Macedonia and Greece are set to resume after more than a decade, amid a thaw in relations following a deal to rename Macedonia "North Macedonia." (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski) (Boris Grdanoski)</s>Commercial flights between Greece and Macedonia have resumed after a break of more than a decade, as part of reconciliation efforts centred on a historic name-change deal between the Balkan states.

Greece halted the flights in 2007, in protest at a decision by Macedonia’s then nationalist government to name Skopje’s international airport after Alexander the Great, ruler of ancient Macedonia.

Macedonia’s prime minister Zoran Zaev removed the name in February in a goodwill gesture to Greece, as the countries sought to overcome a 27-year dispute over the ex-Yugoslav republic’s name and what Athens called its wrongful claim to the legacy of Alexander.

In June, they agreed the country would take the name North Macedonia – removing any clash with the Greek province of Macedonia – and in return Athens would stop blocking its neighbour’s efforts to join the European Union and Nato.

In the latest boost to relations, an Aegean Airlines plane took off from Athens on Thursday evening bound for Skopje, carrying passengers including Macedonian deputy prime minister Bujar Osmani; the Greek carrier expects to fly both ways between Athens and Skopje twice a week.

During talks in Athens, Mr Osmani called the air link “a symbol to the genuine relations that we are building” and tweeted: “Greece has become our greatest ally, neighbouring friend and biggest lobbyist within the EU.”

The name deal must still be approved by parliaments in both capitals and faces strong opposition from nationalists on either side of the border, but it overcame a major hurdle this month when Macedonia’s assembly narrowly agreed to start making constitutional changes stipulated by the pact.

Deputies and legal experts are now drawing up the draft amendments, and the government hopes to submit them to parliament for debate in the coming days.

Parliament will then vote on the draft changes, with only a simple majority required, before another debate and vote on the final amendments, when a two-thirds majority will be needed for the deal to receive Macedonia’s conclusive approval; the Greek parliament will then discuss and vote on the accord.

In securing a two-thirds majority for the October 19th vote, Mr Zaev’s ruling coalition persuaded eight opposition deputies to switch sides, prompting their expulsion from the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party and a small allied group.

Leaders of VMRO-DPMNE, which ran Macedonia from 2006-2017, accuse the ruling parties of bribing and threatening its members to secure votes; the government makes similar allegations against the nationalists, and deputies who crossed the aisle to back the name-change deal have been given police protection.

VMRO-DPMNE was finally ousted last year after Mr Zaev released wiretaps that implicated top members of the party in a range of serious crimes, including corruption, vote-rigging and illegal surveillance of some 20,000 people.

The party’s property assets were frozen this week as part of a money-laundering inquiry, and prosecutors announced the launch of a preliminary investigation into Macedonia’s nationalist president, Gjorge Ivanov, over his refusal to sign the name deal and other legislation.

Former VMRO-DPMNE leader and ex-premier Nikola Gruevski, meanwhile, has been ordered to report to prison by November 8th to start a two-year sentence for graft.</s>SKOPJE, Macedonia — Macedonia and Greece are to restart direct flights after more than a decade, amid a thaw in relations following a deal to rename Macedonia “North Macedonia.”

Skopje and Athens had a direct air link from 2003-2007, but it was stopped after Macedonia’s previous conservative government named Skopje’s airport after the ancient Greek warrior king Alexander the Great, angering Athens.

The two neighbours were at odds for nearly three decades over the Macedonia’s name. Athens claims it implies territorial aspirations on its adjoining province of Macedonia, and on ancient Greek heritage.

Macedonia’s current left-wing government renamed the airport Skopje International Airport in February as a goodwill gesture.

According to the Skopje airport operator, Turkey’s TAV, Greece’s Aegean Airlines will inaugurate the twice-weekly flights Tuesday.</s>SKOPJE, Macedonia — Direct flights between Macedonia and Greece are set to resume after more than a decade, amid a thaw in relations following a deal to rename Macedonia "North Macedonia."

Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani plans to be on the first flight from Athens to Macedonia's capital of Skopje on Thursday evening. Osmani plans to be in Athens for talks with Greek officials, his office said Wednesday.

TAV Airports, which operates the Skopje airport, said Greece's Aegean Airlines will carry out the twice-weekly flights.

Skopje and Athens had a direct air link from 2003-2007, but it was stopped after Macedonia's previous conservative government named the Skopje airport after the ancient Greek warrior king Alexander the Great, angering Athens.

The neighboring countries were at odds for nearly three decades over the Macedonia name. Athens claimed the young nation to its north taking it implied territorial designs on Greece's Macedonia province and on ancient Greek heritage.

Macedonia's current left-wing government renamed the airport Skopje International Airport in February as a goodwill gesture. The name change agreement reached in June is in the ratification process.</s>After more than a decade of being stubbornly unlinked in the skies, Greece and Macedonia are to put Europe’s last aviation blockade behind them.

At 6.40pm on Thursday the first direct flight to Skopje, the Macedonian capital, will take off from Athens’ international airport. Officials are calling it a historic moment for bilateral ties between the countries, which have moved to end their dispute over the former Yugoslav republic’s name.

“This is indicative of the big improvement in our relations,” Macedonia’s ambassador to Athens, Darko Angelov, told the Guardian. “As neighbouring countries it was long needed and will be greatly welcomed by the business community.”

The service, to be operated by Greece’s largest carrier, Aegean Airlines, will see flights resume twice weekly.

Macedonia’s deputy prime minister, Bujar Osmani, will be on the 48-seat Olympic Air ATR42 turboprop plane for the first flight.

The air link was suspended in 2006 when Skopje’s former rightwing government chose to name the capital’s airport after Alexander the Great.

Greece saw the step as appropriation of its historical legacy, arguing it amounted to further proof of landlocked Macedonia’s intent to lay claim to the adjacent Greek province of Macedonia, including the port city of Thessaloniki.

Under a landmark deal reached between the two nations in June, the Macedonian prime minister, Zoran Zaev’s social democrat government agreed to rename the country North Macedonia in a bid to placate fears about its ambitions. Any mention of Alexander was also removed from public infrastructure, with the airport being renamed Skopje international airport.

Passage of the accord has been set as a condition for Macedonia joining Nato and ultimately the EU.

In a dramatic vote, Zaev managed to muster the two-thirds majority needed to make the requisite constitutional changes last month after opposition MPs in the 120-seat parliament agreed to endorse the controversial agreement.

The lawmakers, almost all members of the nationalist VMRO party, have since been placed under armed guard because of security fears. There have been protests accusing them of betrayal.

A second batch of constitutional changes will be brought before Macedonian lawmakers in the coming days.

Speaking to reporters in Skopje ahead of his visit, Osmani described Greece as “a new strategic partner”, saying support for the name change was growing despite outrage among hardliners.

The treaty must be ratified by the end of the year before the Greek parliament is also called to pass it.

Dispelling criticism from nationalists in Greece – including his junior partner in government – the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, says he is also determined to pass the accord, now viewed as a rare foreign policy success.

Earlier this month, Greece’s alternate minister for foreign affairs described resumption of the direct route as “a very positive development” that would further boost economic cooperation between the two states.

Prior to the flight’s inauguration, travellers had been forced to endure an eight-hour car ride from Athens to Skopje or take connecting flights via Istanbul or Vienna. “We are delighted,” said Branko Geroski, a political commentator in Skopje. “It will open up a lot of opportunities for travel. Athens itself is a very desirable destination. This is great news and let’s hope the price [of an air ticket] is good too.”</s>SKOPJE, Macedonia — Macedonia and Greece have restarted direct commercial flights after more than a decade following an agreement to try and end a long-standing dispute over the Balkan republic's name.

Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani was on the Olympic Airlines flight to the Macedonian capital of Skopje on Thursday after talks in Athens. Passengers were handed cookies upon their arrival.

Greece and Macedonia are at odds over the former Yugoslav republic's name which Athens says implies a territorial claim against Greek territory. In June the Macedonian government agreed to rename the country North Macedonia but the deal requires a complicated ratification process.

Direct flights were halted in 2007 when Macedonia's previous conservative government named the Skopje airport after the ancient Greek warrior Alexander the Great, angering Athens. The Skopje airport was renamed earlier this year.</s>Direct flights between Macedonia and Greece are set to resume after more than a decade. Amid a thaw in relations following a deal to rename the country “North Macedonia,” Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani plans to be on the first flight from Athens to Macedonia’s capital of Skopje on Thursday evening, AP reported. Osmani plans to be in Athens for talks with Greek officials, his office said on Wednesday. TAV Airports, which operates the Skopje airport, said Greece’s Aegean Airlines will carry out the twice-weekly flights. Skopje and Athens had a direct air link from 2003-2007. It was stopped after Macedonia’s previous conservative government named the Skopje airport after the ancient Greek warrior king Alexander the Great, angering Athens. Macedonia’s current left-wing government renamed the airport Skopje International Airport in February as a goodwill gesture. The agreement on Macedonia’s name change reached in June is in the ratification process.
Commercial air travel resumes between Greece and Macedonia for the first time since 2006.