Skopje International Airport

Skopje International Airport is the principal airport of North Macedonia and the busiest in the country, handling roughly 2.5 million passengers annually — a volume equivalent to more than 120% of the country's 2.05 million population, making it one of the highest passenger-to-population ratios in the Balkans and a reflection of the significant North Macedonian diaspora in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, which drives Friday-evening and Sunday-night return flow patterns distinctive to the airport. SKP is one of two international airports in North Macedonia, alongside Ohrid (OHD), and handles virtually all scheduled international traffic to the country. The airport is served by Wizz Air, which operates a base at SKP with flights to more than 30 European destinations, making North Macedonia one of Wizz's highest-intensity markets measured by flights per capita. Pegasus, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, Austrian, Air Serbia, Fly Dubai, and Swiss also serve SKP, with Istanbul, Vienna, Zurich, Frankfurt, and Munich providing the main one-stop intercontinental connections. Under a 20-year concession agreement signed in 2008, the airport has been operated by Turkish infrastructure firm TAV Airports, which rebuilt the terminal in 2011. A single runway, 16/34, measures 7,848 ft (2,392 m). The modern terminal has 12 gates with four jet bridges and handles both Schengen and non-Schengen traffic in a common departures hall. SKP sits 17 km (11 mi) east of Skopje at an elevation of 781 ft (238 m) in the Skopje valley, with the Vardar River and Šar Mountains flanking the approaches. The airport is named in honor of Alexander the Great (Aleksandar Veliki), reflecting the political and cultural context of the airport's 2006–2018 period.