Skopje "Alexander the Great" Airport

Skopje "Alexander the Great" Airport Аеродром ,,Александар Велики" Скопје Aerodrom ,,Aleksandar Veliki" Skopje
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
Direction Length Surface m ft 16/34 3,042 9,992 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 1,452,465 [1] Passenger change 14–15 20.2%
Source: Republic of Macedonia AIP at EUROCONTROL[2]

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.^[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 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.

Airlines and destinations

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

Airlines	Destinations
Adria Airways	Ljubljana
Air Berlin operated by Belair	Zürich
Air Serbia	Belgrade
Austrian Airlines	Vienna
Borajet	Seasonal charter: Antalya
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya
Croatia Airlines	Zagreb
Czech Airlines	Seasonal: Prague Seasonal charter: Heraklion
Edelweiss Air	Zürich
flydubai	Dubai–International
Germania Flug	Charter: Zürich
Helvetic Airways	Seasonal charter: Zürich
Pegasus Airlines	Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen Seasonal charter: Antalya
SunExpress	Seasonal charter: Antalya
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul–Atatürk
Wizz Air	Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin-Schönefeld, Bratislava, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Friedrichshafen, Gothenburg, Hahn, Hamburg, Hannover, London–Luton, Malmö, Memmingen, Nuremberg, Sandefjord, Stockholm–Skavsta, Treviso

Statistics

Traffic development

Alexander the Great statue at Skopje Airport

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.^[11] 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 Alexander the Great Airport

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 (01.01-31.10)	1,401,868	14,5%	2,345	16,6%	-	-

Most frequent routes

'Top 6 most frequent routes at SkopjeAlexander the Great"Airport

City	Airport(s)	Airlines
Istanbul	Atatürk Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport	Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines
Zürich	Zürich Airport	Belair, Germania Flug, Edelweiss Air, Helvetic Airways
Vienna	Vienna Airport	Austrian Airlines
Basel Switzerland, Mulhouse France, Freiburg Germany	Basel/Mulhouse Airport	Wizz Air
Malmö	Malmö Airport	Wizz Air
London	London Luton	Wizz Air

Top Carriers

Rank	Carrier	Market share
1	Wizz Air	53,5%
2	Turkish Airlines	8,7%
3	Austrian Airlines	6,4%
4	Germania Flug	5,9%
5	Pegasus Airlines	4,5%

Ground transportation

Taxis to Skopje are available. There is also 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 24 July 1992, an Antonov 12BK of Volga-Dnepr Airlines, crashed on a mountain Lisec village, on approach at 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.^[12]
• 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.^[13]
• 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.^[14]
• 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.^[15][16][17]
• 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.^[17][18][19]
• On 14 November 2011, a private flight Socata TBM700N (TBM850), from Maastricht Achen 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.^[20]
• On 11 February 2012, Czech Airlines Flight 848, Boeing 737-55S a 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.^[21]
• 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.^[22]

References

1. Ex-YU Aviation. TAV Airports. 2012. p. 86. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
2. "EAD Basic - Error Page". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
3. Airport information for LWSK at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
4. "TAV Skopje Airport, Macedonia". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
5. Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput (1927-1948) at europeanairlines.no
6. "Skopje's airport to be named "Alexander the Great"". Kathimerini. 2006-12-29. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
7. Makfax
8. Kavala International Airport "Megas Alexandros" or in English: "Alexander the Great". Official site.
9. "Денис Звиздиќ номиниран за претседател на новиот Совет на министри на БиХ". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
10. skp.airports.com.mk - Timetable retrieved 28 October 2016
11. "AirportsBase :: Skopje Airport". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
12. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19920724-1
13. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19930305-1
14. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=22611
15. "My Info Agent". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
16. "2 Dash 8 emergency landings in Skopje, Macedonia - PPRuNe Forums". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
17. "AUA-Maschine musste nach Start in Skopje umkehren". derStandard.at. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
18. "Dva prinudna sletanja u Skoplju". B92.net. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
19. "Page Redirection". Retrieved 7 May 2016.
20. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=139922
21. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=143672
22. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=189853

External links

Media related to Skopje Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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