The operator of Macedonia's two international airports, TAV, anticipates expanding Skopje's capacity within the next five to ten years to cater for its growing passengers numbers, which it says could reach up to two million travellers this year. The co-founder and CEO of Turkey’s TAV Airports Holding, Sani Sener, said in an interview to the "Kanal 5" network, "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. Airports are not only infrastructure providers anymore, they are commercial businesses. Commercial businesses have to be managed by a private entity". He added, "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 this year we expect to have two million passengers".
During the January - July period, Skopje Airport welcomed 1.004.112 travellers through its doors, representing an increase of 7.8% on 2016, or an additional 72.547 passengers. The airport is expected to continue to post strong growth in August, as well as the upcoming winter season with additional flights from Wizz Air, Flydubai, and new services by Qatar Airways and Eurowings. The airport itself has not given an estimate as to how many passengers it could handle this year, noting only that its growth will be above the European average. Skopje Airport has been locked in a tight race with its traditionally busier counterpart in Pristina with just 52.689 passengers setting the two apart so far in 2017.
Skopje Airport has the capacity to handle four million passengers per year, with some 110 million euros invested in the construction of its terminal building which opened in 2011. "The Macedonian government made a great move in privatising the airports. Because airports are places where foreigners get the first impression when they arrive. When they leave the country they get the last impression. They show the operational and financial capabilities of a country. Skopje Airport is one of the best airports of its size in Europe", Mr Sener noted. Skopje Airport held the title for the fastest growing capital city airport in the former Yugoslavia for two years, in 2013 and 2015, before it was overtaken by Podgorica Airport last year.
SOURCE: EX-YU Aviation
