Skopje Airport continues dream run

Skopje records growth of almost 30% in May

Skopje Alexander the Great Airport has recorded significant growth so far this year with May being no different to the past few months. Macedonia’s busiest airport welcomed 87.992 passengers last month, an impressive 29.6% increase compared to May last year. The strong growth is being fuelled primarily by Wizz Air, which set up its base in the Macedonian capital over the winter months and has increased its flight operations from the city by over 300%. As a result, the number of operating flights grew significantly with a total of 966 logged, up 17.4%. Wizz Air was the busiest airline operating in and out of Skopje in May, followed by Turkish Airlines, Austrian and Pegasus Airlines. The busiest EX-YU airline was Adria, which welcomed 5.313 passengers onboard its flights to and from Skopje. Istanbul proved to be the most popular destination in May, followed by Vienna, Zurich, London Luton and Ljubljana.

So far this year Skopje Airport has welcomed 348.532 passengers, up 16.4% compared to the same period last year. The number of flight operations saw a 6.5% boost during the five month period, totalling 4.320 arrivals and departures. Unsurprisingly, with a total of 810 flights, Wizz Air was the busiest from the airport, handling 120.989 passengers, followed by Turkish Airlines on 46.828, Austrian with 35.095 passengers, Adria with 20.097 and Pegasus Airlines which welcomed 19.774 passengers onboard its aircraft to and from Skopje.

Ohrid Airport has also performed well over the past five months by welcoming 16.826 passengers, up 15.3%. In May alone the airport recorded a 10.3% passenger increase by handling 8.337 passengers. Together, Macedonia’s two airports welcomed a combined total of 365.358 passengers, an increase of 16.4% compared to the same period last year. In 2012, Skopje Airport was the seventh busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia, behind Ljubljana but ahead of Tivat. The airport is still awaiting to break its passenger record of 1.000.200 passengers set in 2000.