Skopje "Alexander the Great" Airport

Skopje Airport^[1] (IATA: SKP, ICAO: LWSK) (Macedonian: Аеродром Скопје, Aerodrom Skopje), or Skopje "Alexander the Great" Airport^[2] (Macedonian: Аеродром Скопје „Aлександар Вeлики“, Aerodrom Skopje, "Aleksandar Veliki") is the larger and busier of the two international airports in the Republic of Macedonia. Located 17 km (11 mi) southeast^[1] of the national capital, Skopje.

Airport development

In 2008 the Macedonian Government signed a contract with the Turkish company Tepe Akfen Ventures (TAV) for a twenty year long concession during which this company would manage Macedonia's two existing airports - the Skopje Alexander the Great Airport and the St. Paul the Apostle Airport in Ohrid. In September 2011, the new terminal building, extension of the runway, new administrative building, cargo building and new access road with parking facilities were opened.^[3] The goal of the project is to increase the capacity of Skopje Airport to four million passengers per year with plans to turn Skopje Airport into a major transit and cargo hub for Southeast Europe. Renovations of the Ohrid airport terminal building and VIP sections were completed in the Spring of 2011. The concession contract also includes the construction of a third airport intended for cargo transport near the eastern Macedonian town of Štip which eventually would be transformed into Macedonia’s main airport. The total amount of the foreseen investment is 200 million Euros with 30 to 40 million Euros total concession payments to the Macedonian Government over the 20-year concession period. Tepe Akfen Ventures Airport Holding is one of the world's fastest expanding airport operators currently managing the Turkish airports of Atatürk, Esenboğa, Adnan Menderes and Gazipaşa along with Tbilisi and Batumi in Georgia, Monastir and Enfidha in Tunisia. TAV is also bidding to take over the management of Ruzyně International Airport and Riga International Airport.^[4] Also the construction of a luxurious hotel next to the airport is planned.^[5]

Airline changes

• Austrian Airlines has updated its routes to Skopje for the summer season. Austrian will serve Skopje daily with Airbus A319 and Fokker 100 aircraft and 4 times weekly by Fokker 70 as of April 10, 2010^[6]
• Jat Airways announced it will be upgrading frequencies from Belgrade to Macedonia, with flights to Skopje increasing to double daily^[7] and the resumption of services to Ohrid.^[8] The flights to Ohrid will operated via Skopje to secure domestic yields between the two cities.^[9]
• Swiss International Air Lines has announced it will also be serving Skopje from March 28 twice per week and once per week to Ohrid. The flights will be operated by Edelweiss Air^[10]

Name controversy

In December 2006 the government of the Republic of Macedonia announced plans to rename the airport after Alexander the Great, sparking a renewed diplomatic spat with Greece, where both countries consider Alexander the Great as part of their own heritage (see Macedonia naming dispute).^[11][12] The new name is argued to create confusion with the already existing Kavala International Airport named Alexander the Great ("Megas Alexandros"), which lies in the neighboring Greek region of Macedonia.^[13]

Passenger numbers

• 2009 Traffic in Republic of Macedonia increased by 0.8% during the summer 2009 (May to October), when compared to summer 2008.^[14]

• 2008 the airport handled a total of 652,815 passengers, an increase by 4.1% from the previous year.

Airlines and destinations

Charter

Transport

Taxis go regularly to and from the airport to Skopje. The costs can vary depending on how far you travel. Taxis will drive to other cities in Macedonia.

Buses operate services to various destinations from the airport.

Incidents and accidents

• On 5 March 1993, a Palair Macedonian Airlines Fokker F-100 PH-KXL bound for Zurich crashed seconds after takeoff from runway 34. Investigation into the accident determined the cause of the accident to be the failure of the flight crew to have the aircraft deiced before departure. Of the 97 people on board, 83 died.
• On 13 (Friday) February 2009, Austrian Airlines Flight OS780, Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 scheduled flight from Skopje to Vienna failed to retract landing gear after take-off and performed an emergency landing on Skopje Airport.^[15][16][17]
• On 13 (Friday) February 2009, MALÉV Flight 440 a scheduled MALÉV flight Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 from Budapest to Skopje made an emergency landing at Skopje Airport. At 16:05 CET the pilot reported right engine failure on its final approach to Skopje LWSK. The pilot safely landed the airplane and there were no injuries reported among the 64 passengers in the aircraft. [6] [7]^[18]

References

External links

• Official website
• Accident history for SKP at Aviation Safety Network
• Current weather for LWSK at NOAA/NWS