New highway for airport Alexander the Great put into use

"TAV Macedonia" has completed its EUR 100 million investment in Macedonia by putting into use a new interchange for airport "Alexander the Great" on Saturday, thus enabling easier access to the airport.

"We are encircling a significant project that is of enormous benefit for our citizens, since the airport's overhaul has resulted in interest by many low-cost airlines, whereas turnover has increased", said Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski at the event.

Minister of Transport and Communications Mile Janakieski stressed the number of passengers at the Skopje-based airport vastly increased in 2011, whereas the trend has resumed this year.

"The number of passengers in the first quarter of 2012 has increased by 27 percent. I expect that subsidies for airlines will bring the number of passengers up to one million", said Janakieski.

The interchange investment was worth EUR 2,2 million, of which TAV provided EUR 1,5 million, whereas the remaining were allocated by the Government.

"TAV Macedonia" is the concessionaire of the Skopje and Ohrid airports for a period of 20 years

Ohrid's St. Paul the Apostle is Best in Class of Smaller Airports

Ohrid airport: Saint Paul the Apostle

According to the International Airport Council, Ohrid-based St. Paul the Apostle airport is the absolute winner in the group of small airports with up to five million passengers a year. In comparison with September 2011, goods transport growth reached 198.1 percent in a year.
The two Macedonian airports are managed by Turkish TAV. Istanbul-based Kemal Atatturk Airport, which is also managed by TAV, reported the highest growth in goods transport in its group of airports with more than 25 million passengers a year. Leading European airports (Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London) recorded losses in international goods transport (6, 5.7 and 3.7 percent).

Burger King Coming to Macedonia

TAB Foods, the master franchisee operating over 500 chain restaurants in Turkey for Burger King, Popeye’s, Sbarro and Arby’s, is set to open several restaurants in Macedonia, MINA has learned. 

The first Burger King restaurant is set to open on August 30 at Skopje airport “Alexander the Great”. 

“We will open our first restaurant in Skopje Airport on Aug. 30, and three more Burger King restaurants will open in Macedonia before the end of the year,” said Caner Dikici, general manager of TAB Foods.

Skopje's new Airport Terminal Near Completion

The grand opening of Skopje's new world class passenger terminal, part of Alexander The Great Airport is slated for September 8, Macedonian Independence Day.
At a cost of €110 million the new terminal will be ten times bigger than the existing building and will allow for long-awaited improvements to passenger travel.
The terminal will feature six air bridges, 23 check-in desks and 15 passport control counters, stretching over more than 40,000 square metres. TAV says that they have completed more than 80 per cent of the construction of the building.
Work has also been done on the runway, which is being extended from 2.5 to 3.1 kilometres to ease the landing of larger aircraft. A new cargo terminal and road access to the airport and parking area are also being constructed.
“My vision for the airport is to make it the regional hub,” TAV Macedonia's director, Murat Ornekol, told News 24 TV recently. The management hopes to increase the annual number of passengers from slightly over half a million today to 3.5 million a year.
“In the past, many passengers headed to airports in neighbouring countries. Our goal is to attract those passengers back. And believe me the new terminal building has the capacity to accommodate this number,” Ornekol said.
Since TAV's entry, the airport has seen solid growth.  In the first half of 2011, the number of passengers increased by nearly 10 per cent. It has also welcomed new budget airlines like WizzAir, Air Berlin, XL Airways and soon the Turkish low budget carrier, Pegasus Airlines.

Turkish Airlines and other companies who already operate in Skopje are also expected to increase their number of flights.
TAV started construction work at the airport in mid-2010. The government chose the company to reconstruct and manage Macedonia's airports in 2008.
 Last year TAV finished reconstruction of the country’s second civil airport in the tourist town of Ohrid. TAV recently boasted that in only one year they increased the number of passengers there by a staggering 60 per cent.