Skopje International Airport

This article is about the Skopje Airport. For other uses, see Alexander the Great Airport.
Skopje International Airport
Меѓународен аеродром Скопје
Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Shkupit
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
OperatorTAV Airports
ServesSkopje
LocationPetrovec, North Macedonia
Opened1928 (1928)
Operating base for
Elevation AMSL238 m / 781 ft
Coordinates41°57′40″N 021°37′37″E / 41.96111°N 21.62694°E / 41.96111; 21.62694
Websiteskp.airports.com.mk
Map
SKP/LWSK
Location within North Macedonia
SKP/LWSK
SKP/LWSK (Europe)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
16/34 3,042 9,992 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers2,883,378
Passenger change 2022-23 34.8%
Aircraft movements21,985
Movements change 2022-23 38%
Cargo (tons)3,585
Cargo change 2022-23 36%
Source: Republic of North Macedonia AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]

Skopje International Airport[2][3][4] (Macedonian: Меѓународен аеродром Скопје, romanized: Megjunaroden aerodrom Skopje, Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Shkupit) (IATA: SKP, ICAO: LWSK), also known as Skopje Airport 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.

History

Early years

The first flight and landing in Skopje was done in 1912 during the Balkan war by Serbian military aviators. In 1915, Skopje became part of Bulgaria during World War I and a military airport was established there, which was key for Bulgarian and German aviation. The Skopje Airport itself did not exist as a modern civil airport, but as a field aerodrome for military needs. In late September 1918, during the Vardar offensive, Skopje became the airfield of the 1st Section of the 73rd Squadron of the British Royal Army, part of the British and French forces in Italy during World War I. It remained in then South Serbia until August 1919.

An airport was built in 1928 near what is today a neighborhood called Aerodrom. 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 occupation of the region by Bulgaria during World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia, a military airport was built in the city under the leadership of former IMRO revolutionary Konstantin Popatanasov.[6] This airport near Aerodrom, was destroyed during the bombing of Bulgaria in World War II.

After the Second World War, the current airport was built near a neighborhood called Petrovec and 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, as part of the identity policies called antiquization, the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE-led government of then Republic of Macedonia renamed the airport after Alexander the Great, sparking further controversy in the diplomatic feud with Greece.

In 2008, the Macedonian Government signed a contract with the Turkish company TAV Airports Holding 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.[7]

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.[8] A few months before, Aegean Airlines announced future flights between Athens and Skopje, the first flights to Greece for several years.[9]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Skopje:[10]

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens[11]
Air Cairo Hurghada[12]
Air Serbia Belgrade[13]
AJet Ankara (begins 2 July 2026),[14] Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[15]
Seasonal: Adana/Mersin,[16] Ankara, Bodrum (begins 2 July 2026),[17] Diyarbakır,[16]
AMC Airlines Seasonal charter: Hurghada[18]
Austrian Airlines Vienna[19]
BH Air[20] Seasonal charter: Djerba, Enfidha, Hurghada, Larnaca
Chair Airlines Zürich
Croatia Airlines Zagreb[21]
easyJet Geneva,[22] Paris–Orly[23]
Edelweiss Air Zürich[24]
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin[25]
Lufthansa Frankfurt[26]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Oslo[27]
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen,[28] İzmir[29]
Seasonal: Antalya[30]
SunExpress Antalya,[31] İzmir[32]
Tailwind Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya[33]
Turkish Airlines Istanbul[34]
Wizz Air Barcelona,[35][36] Bari,[37] Basel/Mulhouse,[35] Beauvais,[35] Bergamo (begins 29 March 2026),[38] Berlin,[35] Bologna,[35][39] Bratislava,[35] Budapest (resumes 30 March 2026),[40] Charleroi,[35] Cologne/Bonn,[41] Dortmund,[35] Eindhoven,[35] Friedrichshafen,[35] Gothenburg,[35] Hahn,[35] Hamburg,[35] Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden,[35] Larnaca,[42] Ljubljana,[35][43] London–Luton,[44] Lyon,[35][36] Madrid,[37] Malmö,[35] Malta,[35] Memmingen,[35] Milan–Malpensa (ends 27 March 2026),[38] Naples (begins 30 March 2026),[45] Nuremberg, Prague,[37] Rome–Ciampino,[35][46] Sandefjord,[35] Stockholm–Arlanda,[37] Stuttgart,[36] Treviso[35]
Seasonal: Alghero (begins 18 July 2026),[47] Palermo (begins 15 July 2026)[47]

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
DHL Aviation[48] 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.[49] 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.

Traffic figures at Skopje International Airport
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[50] 2,883,378 34.8% 3,585 36% 21,985 38%
2024[51] 2,954,568 2.5%
2025[52] 3,211,419 8.7%

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:[53]

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:[53]

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:[53]

Ground transportation

Taxis to Skopje are available. There is also a bus service (WTransporter) linking the airport and the city.

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.[54]
  • 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.[55]
  • 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.[56]
  • 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.[57][58][59]
  • 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.[60]
  • 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.[61]
  • 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.[62]

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Media related to Skopje Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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