Skopje "Alexander the Great" Airport
| Skopje Airport Аеродром Скопје Aerodrom Skopje | |||||||||||
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| IATA: SKP – ICAO: LWSK | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public/Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | TAV Airports | ||||||||||
| Serves | Skopje, Republic of Macedonia | ||||||||||
| Location | Petrovec | ||||||||||
| Hub for | Wizz Air | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 238 m / 781 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°57′40″N 021°37′37″E / 41.96111°N 21.62694°ECoordinates: 41°57′40″N 021°37′37″E / 41.96111°N 21.62694°E | ||||||||||
| Website | skp.airports.com.mk | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  LWSK Location in Republic of Macedonia | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2015) | |||||||||||
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Skopje Airport[3] (IATA: SKP, ICAO: LWSK) (Macedonian: Аеродром Скопје, Aerodrom Skopje) or Skopje "Alexander the Great" Airport[2][4] (Macedonian: Аеродром „Александар Велики“ Скопје, Aerodrom "Aleksandar Veliki" Skopje), is the larger and busier of the two international airports in the Republic of Macedonia, with the other being the St. Paul the Apostle Airport in Ohrid. It is located 17 km (11 mi) southeast[2] of the national capital Skopje in the Municipality of Petrovec.
History
Early years
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 in Greece, and further extended to Greek capital Athens in 1933.
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 government of the Republic of Macedonia announced plans to rename the airport after Alexander the Great, sparking a renewed diplomatic spat with Greece, because both countries consider Alexander the Great as part of their own heritage.[6][7] The new name is alleged to create confusion with the already existing Kavala International Airport named Alexander the Great (Greek: Μέγας Αλέξανδρος - Megas Alexandros), which lies in the neighbouring Greek region of Macedonia.[8] 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.[9] 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.
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Adria Airways | Ljubljana |
| Air Berlin operated by Belair | Zürich |
| Air Serbia | Belgrade |
| Alitalia operated by Alitalia CityLiner | Rome–Fiumicino |
| Austrian Airlines | Vienna |
| Borajet | Seasonal charter: Antalya, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen |
| Croatia Airlines | Zagreb |
| Czech Airlines | Prague (begins 20 May 2016)[10] |
| Edelweiss Air | Zürich |
| flydubai | Dubai–International |
| Germania | Charter: Düsseldorf |
| Germania Flug | Charter: Zürich |
| Helvetic Airways | Zürich |
| Pegasus Airlines | Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen Seasonal charter: Antalya |
| Qatar Airways | Doha (begins 2 October 2016) [11] |
| SunExpress | Seasonal charter: Antalya |
| Swiss International Air Lines | Geneva |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul–Atatürk |
| Wizz Air | Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin-Schönefeld, Bratislava, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Friedrichshafen, Gothenburg, Hahn, Hamburg, London–Luton, Malmö, Memmingen, Nuremberg, Sandefjord, Stockholm–Skavsta, Treviso |
Statistics
The number of passengers has increased since 1990, from 312,492 passengers in that year, to 1,452,465 passengers in 2015. However, traffic was often dropped in twenty years. In 2000 the airport handled 1,005,852 passengers, but in 2001 the number of passengers dropped to 499,789.[12] 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.
| Year | Passengers | Change | Cargo (t) | Change | Aircraft movements | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 312,492 | 1,872 | 3,466 | |||
| 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% |
- | - | - | - |
| 2012 | 828,831 | 9,1% |
- | - | - | - |
| 2013 | 984,407 | 18,8% |
- | - | - | - |
| 2014 | 1,208,359 | 22,7% |
- | - | - | - |
| 2015 | 1,452,465 | 20,2% |
- | - | - | - |
| 2016 (01.01-31.03) | 331,943 | 25,8% |
- | - | - | - |
Ground transportation
Taxis to Skopje are available. (official Airport Taxis or booked taxis which are usually cheaper).
There is a bus service linking the airport and the City (with stops at Capitol Mall, International Bus/Railway Station and Hotel Holiday Inn/City Centre).
Incidents and accidents
- On 5 March 1993, Palair Macedonian Airlines Flight 301, a Fokker 100 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 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.[13][14][15]
- On 13 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.[16][17][18]
References
- ↑ Ex-YU Aviation. TAV Airports. 2012. p. 86. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- 1 2 3 "EAD Basic - Error Page". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ Airport information for LWSK at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
- ↑ "TAV Skopje Airport, Macedonia". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- 1 2 Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput (1927-1948) at europeanairlines.no
- ↑ "Skopje's airport to be named "Alexander the Great"". Kathimerini. 2006-12-29. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
- ↑ Makfax
- ↑ Kavala International Airport "Megas Alexandros" or in English: "Alexander the Great". Official site.
- ↑ "Денис Звиздиќ номиниран за претседател на новиот Совет на министри на БиХ". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "TAV Skopje Airport, Macedonia". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "Qatar Airways on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "AirportsBase :: Skopje Airport". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "My Info Agent". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "2 Dash 8 emergency landings in Skopje, Macedonia - PPRuNe Forums". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "AUA-Maschine musste nach Start in Skopje umkehren". derStandard.at. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "AUA-Maschine musste nach Start in Skopje umkehren". derStandard.at. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "Dva prinudna sletanja u Skoplju". B92.net. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "Page Redirection". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Skopje Airport. |
- Official website
- Accident history for SKP at Aviation Safety Network
- Current weather for LWSK at NOAA/NWS
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