Skopje International Airport

This article is about the Skopje Airport. For other uses, see Alexander the Great Airport.

Skopje International Airport^[2][3][4] (Macedonian: Меѓународен аеродром Скопје, Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Shkupit) (IATA: SKP, ICAO: LWSK), also known as Skopje Airport (Аеродром Скопје, Aeroporti i Shkupit) and Petrovec Airport is the larger and busier of the two international airports in North Macedonia, with the other being the St. Paul the Apostle Airport in Ohrid, which is located 170 km (110 mi) southwest^[1] from the national capital Skopje. The airport was previously named Skopje Alexander the Great Airport.

Skopje International Airport Меѓународен аеродром Скопје Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Shkupit
IATA: SKP ICAO: LWSK
Summary
Airport type	Public / Military
Operator	TAV Airports
Serves	Skopje
Location	Petrovec, North Macedonia
Opened	1928; 97 years ago (1928)
Operating base for	BH Air Wizz Air
Elevation AMSL	238 m / 781 ft
Coordinates	41°57′40″N 021°37′37″E
Website	skp.airports.com.mk
Map
SKP/LWSK Location within North Macedonia Show map of North Macedonia SKP/LWSK SKP/LWSK (Europe) Show map of Europe
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 16/34 3,042 9,992 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers 2,883,378 Passenger change 2022-23 34.8% Aircraft movements 21,985 Movements change 2022-23 38% Cargo (tons) 3,585 Cargo change 2022-23 36%
Source: Republic of North Macedonia AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]

History

Terminal interior

Early years

The airport was built in 1928. The first commercial flights in Skopje were introduced in 1929 when the Yugoslav carrier Aeroput introduced a route linking the city with the capital, Belgrade.^[5] A year later, the route was extended to Thessaloniki and further to Athens in 1933.^[5] In 1935, Aeroput linked Skopje with Bitola and Niš, and also operated a longer international route linking Vienna and Thessaloniki through Zagreb, Belgrade and Skopje.^[5]

After the Second World War, Aeroput was replaced by JAT Yugoslav Airlines, which linked Skopje to a number of domestic and international destinations until the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Development since the 2000s

In December 2006, the conservative VMRO-DPMNE-led government of the Republic of Macedonia renamed the airport after Alexander the Great, sparking further controversy in the ongoing diplomatic feud with Greece. Both countries consider Alexander the Great as part of their respective heritages, demonstrated by the fact that the regional airport of Kavala in Greek Macedonia is also named after Alexander. However, the airport in Kavala was the first to be named as such since 1992.^[6][7]

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 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.^[8]

In February 2018, Alexander the Great was dropped from the airport's name in a move to improve relations with Greece, with the airport being officially renamed Skopje International Airport.^[9] A few months before, Aegean Airlines announced future flights between Athens and Skopje, the first flights to Greece for several years.^[10]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Skopje:^[11]

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Athens[12]
Air Cairo	Hurghada
Air Serbia	Belgrade[13]
AJet	Seasonal: Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[14]
AMC Airlines	Seasonal charter: Hurghada[15]
Austrian Airlines	Vienna[16]
BH Air[17]	Seasonal charter: Djerba,[citation needed] Enfidha,[citation needed] Hurghada,[citation needed] Larnaca[citation needed]
Chair Airlines	Zürich
Croatia Airlines	Zagreb[18] Seasonal: Split[19]
easyJet	Paris–Orly (begins 2 April 2025)[20]
Edelweiss Air	Zürich[21]
Freebird Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya[citation needed]
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw–Chopin[22]
Lufthansa	Frankfurt[23]
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Oslo[24]
Pegasus Airlines	Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, İzmir Seasonal: Antalya[25]
SunExpress	Antalya,[26] İzmir[27]
Tailwind Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya[28]
Transavia	Amsterdam[29]
Tunisair	Seasonal charter: Tunis[30]
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul
Wizz Air	Barcelona (begins 3 May 2025),[31] Basel/Mulhouse, Beauvais, Berlin, Bologna,[32] Bratislava, Budapest (ends 9 March 2025),[33] Charleroi, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Friedrichshafen, Gothenburg, Hahn, Hamburg, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Ljubljana,[34] London–Luton, Lyon (begins 1 May 2025),[31] Malmö, Malta, Memmingen, Milan–Malpensa, Nuremberg, Rome–Ciampino,[35] Salzburg (ends 28 March 2025),[31] Sandefjord, Stuttgart (begins 29 September 2025),[31] Treviso

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
DHL Aviation[36]	Leipzig/Halle

Statistics

Traffic development

The number of passengers has increased since 1990, from 312,492 passengers in that year, to 2,158,258 passengers in 2018, but this was not a steady increase. In 2000 the airport handled 1,005,852 passengers, but in 2001 the number of passengers dropped to 499,789.^[37] This was influenced in part by a number of airlines replacing services to Skopje with services to nearby. In 2014 Skopje airport handled 1,208,359 passengers, surpassing one million for the first time since 2000.^{[citation needed]}

Traffic figures at Skopje International Airport^{[citation needed]}

Year	Passengers	Change	Cargo (t)	Change	Aircraft movements	Change
1991	397,660	27.3%	1,088	41.9%	7,158	106.5%
1992	390,025	1.9%	1,023	6.0%	7,079	1.1%
1993	577,425	48.0%	4,338	324.0%	10,681	50.9%
1994	603,447	4.5%	6,936	59.9%	10,803	1.1%
1995	583,053	3.4%	10,205	47.1%	11,692	8.2%
1996	422,598	27.5%	3,209	68.6%	8,618	26.3%
1997	440,988	4.4%	4,881	52.1%	8,995	4.4%
1998	511,784	16.1%	5,239	7.3%	10,321	14.7%
1999	840,985	64.3%	11,682	123.0%	23,912	131.7%
2000	1,005,852	19.6%	4,335	62.9%	24,234	1.3%
2001	499,789	50.3%	3,262	28.8%	16,673	31.2%
2002	520,497	4.1%	3,271	0.3%	13,725	17.7%
2003	500,012	3.9%	2,083	36.3%	12,428	9.4%
2004	497,105	0.6%	2,004	3.8%	10,940	12.0%
2005	525,965	5.8%	1,815	9.4%	12,101	10.6%
2006	547,198	4.0%	1,903	4.8%	12,637	4.4%
2007	626,144	14.4%	2,194	15.3%	13,085	3.5%
2008	658,367	5.1%	2,771	26.3%	10,666	18.5%
2009	602,298	8.5%	2,125	23.3%	9,871	7.5%
2010	716,000	18.9%	-	-	-	-
2011	759,918	6.1%	2,376	-	10,977	-
2012	828,831	9.1%	2,297	3.3%	10,418	5.1%
2013	984,407	18.8%	2,504	9.0%	11,276	8.2%
2014	1,208,359	22.7%	3,422	36.7%	13,210	17.2%
2015	1,452,465	20.2%	2,649	22.6%	14,451	9.4%
2016	1,649,374	13.6%	3,090	10.9%	15,407	6.6%
2017	1,868,272	13.3%	2,744	11.2%	16,680	8.3%
2018	2,158,258	15.5%	3,298	20.2%	18,188	9.0%
2019	2,360,400	9,4%	3,407	3.3%	19,177	5.4%
2020	709,241	70.0%	2,132	37.4%	7,625	60.2%
2021	1,266,230	78.5%	3,039	42.5%	12,056	58.1%
2022	2,139,191	68.9%	2,635	13.3%	15,923	32.1%
2023[38]	2,883,378	34.8%	3,585	36%	21,985	38%

Busiest routes (2022)

City	Airport(s)	Airline(s)	Market Share
Istanbul	Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport	Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines	13.1%
Basel Switzerland, Mulhouse France, Freiburg Germany	Basel/Mulhouse Airport	Wizz Air	6.3%
Vienna	Vienna Airport	Austrian Airlines	6.2%
Zürich	Zurich Airport	Chair Airlines, Edelweiss Air	6.2%
Antalya	Antalya	AnadoluJet, Corendon Airlines, SunExpress	4.2%
Memmingen	Memmingen	Wizz Air	4%
Dortmund	Dortmund	Wizz Air	4%
Cologne	Cologne/Bonn	Wizz Air	3.1%
Source: [39]

Largest airlines (2022)

Rank	Carrier	Market share
1	Wizz Air	59,3%
2	Turkish Airlines	11.0% (incl. AnadoluJet)
3	Pegasus Airlines	6.7%
4	Austrian Airlines	6.2%
5	Chair Airlines	4.9%
Source: [39]

Largest country markets (2022)

Rank	Country	Market share
1	Germany	24%
2	Turkey	19.1%
3	Switzerland	14.2%
4	Sweden	6.9%
5	Austria	6.2%
Source: [39]

Ground transportation

Taxis to Skopje are available. There is also a bus service (WTransporter) linking the airport and the city.^{[citation needed]}

Incidents and accidents

• On 24 July 1992, an Antonov 12BK of Volga-Dnepr Airlines crashed at the mountainous Lisec village near Tetovo, on approach to Skopje Airport, after the crew strayed off course while trying to circumnavigate a thunderstorm, because the DME at Skopje Airport was inoperative. All 8 occupants died and the plane was written off.^[40]
• On 5 March 1993, Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301, a Fokker 100 bound for Zürich, 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.^[41]
• On 12 January 2008, a Mil Mi-17 of the Macedonian Air Force, from Mostar en route to Skopje Airport, crashed on a hill near Katlanovsko Blato in dense fog and burned out. All 11 occupants died and the helicopter was written off.^[42]
• On 13 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.^[43][44][45]
• On 14 November 2011, a private flight Socata TBM700N (TBM850), from Maastricht Aachen Airport to Skopje, hit several treetops and approach light while landing and missed the extended asphalt of the runway and touched down on grass. All five occupants escaped unharmed. The plane received substantial damage and was sent to Daher-Socata at Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Airport for repairs.^[46]
• On 11 February 2012, Czech Airlines Flight 848, a Boeing 737-55S scheduled flight from Prague to Skopje, made an emergency landing at Skopje, because of reported smoke that came out of the aircraft. Airport firefighters and ambulance were alarmed. The plane had a minor damage and all passengers escaped uninjured.^[47]
• On 6 September 2016, a private Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II crashed near Vetersko, Veles while landing in Skopje, killing all 6 on board. The aircraft was written off.^[48]