Skopje Airport to handle two million passengers


Skopje Airport anticipates handling two million passengers by this fall, marking the first time it has managed to reach such a milestone within a single year. Speaking to the "Marili" business catalogue, the General Manager of airport operator TAV Macedonia, Alper Ersoy, said, "We expect similar growth at Skopje Airport to that of last year. With its current network of 36 destination and the existing growth in demand for air travel, we anticipate welcoming our two millionth passenger during the fall of 2018. As part of our marketing strategy, we constantly communicate with airlines and tour operators to attract them to enter the Macedonian market".

Several carriers will launch new services to the Macedonian capital this year. They include LOT Polish Airlines from Warsaw and TUIfly from Dusseldorf, while Aegean Airlines is expected to make good on its commitment to introduce operations from Athens. Furthermore, Wizz Air will replace two out of four of its Airbus A320 aircraft with the larger A321s, as well as boost frequencies on some routes. From late October, Turkish Airlines will deploy its brand new Boeing 737 MAX jets to the Macedonian capital. In addition, later this year, the government will begin tender procedures to award 1.7 million euros in subsidies to a low cost airline, in order for it to launch new flights from the country. The policy previously lured Wizz Air into commencing operations to Macedonia, which has resulted in it opening a base in Skopje.

Commenting on Skopje Airport's continued growth, the co-founder and CEO of TAV Airports Holding, Sani Sener, recently said, "I am sure that the passenger increase will continue in the coming five to ten years and I'm sure we will need an expansion at Skopje Airport. Macedonian airports are booming. This happened after a successful privatisation. We had 700.000 passengers in Skopje and only 30.000 passengers in Ohrid before. Now in Ohrid we have 150.000 passengers annually and in Skopje we expect to have two million passengers". Skopje Airport has the capacity to handle four million passengers per year, with some 110 million euros invested in the construction of the terminal which opened in 2011. Mr Ersoy said this year will see the opening of new food and beverage facilities at Skopje Airport, which are operated by Turkey's BTA.

Comments

  1. Best of luck.

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  2. Huge success story!
    Any news if the airport is going to be named after Kiro Gligorov?

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    1. I think they will keep it just Skopje Intrnational Airport.

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    2. It should stay that way.

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  3. In 2015 Skopje surpassed Ljubljana and this year I believe they will overtake Pristina.

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    1. It's not as if Pristina isn't growing too so it won't be easy...

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    2. But Skopje is growing faster ;)

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    3. SKP is stealing passengers from Kosovo thanks to Wizz Air.

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    4. also from INI!

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  4. 2018 will be much more interesting than previous years and we will have three way competition between Skopje, Pristina and Ljubljana.

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    2. SKP is in lead at the moment (jan-feb). PRN -10k, LJU -70k

      Interesting troboj (if the JP expension materializes)

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    3. LJU is still well behind SKP and PRN, even with all the growth.

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    4. And it looks like Adria tries hard to sell more tickets for the new routes, because there are many discounts available right now. Thats not the best sign for the new routes to stay sustainable ;((( i really hope for the best outcome!

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  5. It really is a success story like Dejan says. I never could have predicted Skopje would be handling 2 million pax per annum.

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  6. according to transparency agencies they have for now only invested 60 mil of the 200mio they need. "turska rabota" we say here.

    TAV's only success story in SKP is getting TK, flyDubai and Qatar.

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    1. But even for that money they built a new modern terminal in SKP. SKP will obviously be expanded in future. I think their concession lasts for several more decades.

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    2. yes but then you also wonder why is the roof kao montazna hala when you invested 110 mio ^^

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    3. I agree about the roof. Whenever it rains and you are inaide the terminal you can hear every rain drop as it hits the roof.

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    4. Well won't they build Štip Airport?

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    5. They should use some of that money to properly renovate the Ohrid Airport terminal.

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    6. Stip airport will not be built and the funds dedicated to this project will be used for other infrastructure projects in the east.
      this was decided before Christmas

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    7. How can they redirect TAV's money from airport project for other projects? Unless is was supposed to be jointly funded by the government?

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    8. TAV will pay back 45 mio $ to the government which was intended for the cargo airport. This money will be used for infrastructure projects and the land will be used for agriculture.

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    9. Now it make sense. Thank you.

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  7. even exYu cannot get the numbers for SKP for Feb lol

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  8. Waiting for the INI comparisons to begin :D

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  9. i hate CAPTCHA in the mornings

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  10. Anyone know until when does the concession for SKP & OHD last?

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    1. 20 years from 2010. So it lasts until 2030.

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    2. Wait didn't they start building the new terminal before that?

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    3. It did. It was part of the deal for them to build new terminal before concession starts.

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    4. Ah ok. I see now. Thanks.

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  11. It's turning out to be another great year for Skopje. 2 new airlines - LOT and TUI and extra frequencies by airlines already operating flights.

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    1. Will Aegean FINALLY schedule those flights from Athens???

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    2. i dont think so

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  12. Incredible growth!
    Lets hope that the new Qatar flights won't be affected by QR and FZ starting SKG this year.

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    1. Yes it will be interesting to watch if SKG flights could impact on Skopje loads.

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    2. Ithink TK stands to lose the most from the new flights to Doha and Dubai.
      They almost have a monopoly to fligts east of the Balkans towards Asia and Africa.
      Qatar and EK group will hurt them now.
      But it is great for us.

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    3. QR and FZ will not hurt TK on flights to Asia and Africa, since TK gets the bulk feed to these flights from IST from its vast global network.
      as to SKP-IST fights they are well filled with Turkish tourists.
      But indeed, this competition has reduced prices from SKP- up until 1 year ago it was cheaper to fly to VIE or FRA and fly to Asia from there, than to fly from SKP (via IST). Now, prices are the same and there are even some good deals, especially in C

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    4. QR and FZ will definitely hurt TK's transfer business from the Balkans to Asia ans Africa.
      They didn't start all those flights to exYu and the rest of the Balkans just to transfer tourists from the region to Doha and Dubai! :D
      They are going after the exact same market that TK does.
      And they also have the advantage of flying to Australia.

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  13. So if they overtake PRN they would be the fifth busiest in ex-Yu right?

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    1. Yes, after Dubrovnik.

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    2. Even if Skopje overtakes Pristina, Pristina will climb back the second an LCC opens a base there and there is talk Wizz will do that with 4-5 new routes.

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  14. I personally think that this growth will be temporary, SKP will not be able to resist the competition of nearby airports already being an alternative such as INI for example. You also have PRN. People from north Macedonia already enjoy services from INI as it's closer to them compared to SKP.

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    2. already the highlight of the day. "as it's closer to them compared to SKP"

      little kid now go to google maps and check what you said. svasta procitas.

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    3. Eto, sad je dan kompletan.
      Dok se INI ne pojavi, nije to to.

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    4. INI´s phenomenal growth just irritates the SKP fanclub. Je suis désolé, that´s life.

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    5. INI za svaku pohavlu, no necemo pretjerivat.
      Jos je dalek put pred njime.

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  15. Congratulations SKP. Your transformation has been phenomenal

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  16. I so hope an airline other than Wizz gets the new subsidies. They need to get some competition.

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    1. easyjet or Norwegian would be nice.

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    2. Easy Jet would be great!

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  17. So if they expect to expand the airport in 5-10 years then that is when they expect to hit 4 million passengers.

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  18. Even though the distance is short, is there any potential for domestic flights SKP-OHD ?

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    1. There is no point in that. SKP-OHD is 160km (2h by car now), with the highway being built (next 2 years) it will be shorter

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    2. I didn´t know it. Thanks.

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  19. I like the picture above :)

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    1. Agree. Would be hard to imagine so many planes in Skopje a few years ago.

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  20. So we can expect aroynd 2.1/2.2 million in Skopje if they expect to have 2 million by autumn.

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  21. It will be good if Easyjet Switzerland open a route from Geneva to Skopje, I think that there is a real potential for 2 or 3 flight per week with an A319.

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  22. Bravo Srbija! No: bravo Hrvatska! No, no, wait: bravo everyone! ))

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