ACI ranks Macedonian airports among the fastest growing in Europe: Skopje and Ohrid airports with record 31% growth in passenger traffic for the first 5 months
Skopje International Airport and Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport, managed by TAV Macedonia, a subsidiary of TAV Airports a member of Groupe ADP continue to mark record levels of double digit increase in passenger numbers.
In the first five months of 2026, in the period January-May, both Macedonian airports served 31,2% more passengers than the same period in 2025, or a total of 1,6 million passengers (1.580.932), while the number of flights grew 9,5% with 10.595 flights served in total.
At the same time with TAV Macedonia’s first 5 months statistics analysis, Airports Council International-Europe (ACI-Europe) released its air traffic analysis for April 2026, which is ranking Skopje International Airport and Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport as the fastest-growing airports coming from a non-EU country.
According to ACI-Europe analysis, while non-EU and EU countries marked negative passenger traffic numbers (-7,6%) for the first time after post covid-recovery, smaller number of markets such as North Macedonia (+30,6%), Albania (+25,3%) and Moldova (+24,6%), that belong in geographical Europe but are non-EU countries, keep posting impressive increases.
“The record double digit growth of passenger traffic in the first 5 months (+31,2%), in April (+30,6%), positions Macedonian Airports among Europe’s fastest-growing aviation markets and on the top of West non-EU area performers. After Skopje and Ohrid airports, are the airports in Albania and in Moldova, also with double digit growth but below 30%. This is strong confirmation that our airports are successfully responding to increasing demand for air travel and that the country is becoming an increasingly attractive and accessible destination. This achievement is result of the continuous investments in airport infrastructure, service enhancements, marketing activities, successful cooperation with airlines and the support from the Government. We are especially pleased that, at a time when many European markets are experiencing stagnation or declines in passenger traffic, Macedonia is positioned among Europe’s leaders in growth,” said Nejat Kurt, TAV Macedonia General Manager.
According to Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, April 2026 represents a clear turning point for European air traffic.
“While we had already been observing a normalization of passenger traffic growth following the strong post-pandemic recovery, geopolitical instability – particularly the conflicts in the Middle East – is now further slowing growth and exposing significant differences in performance across markets. The encouraging news is that demand remains generally strong, airline capacity adjustments remain limited, and concerns over potential jet fuel shortages have eased.”
As per ACI-Europe April 2026 air traffic analysis, among the largest EU markets, airports in Spain (+3.7%) and Italy (+2.2%) posted the best results, while those in Germany (-8.5%), the UK (-2.1%), and France (-0.9%) saw passenger volumes receding.
The best EU+ performances came from airports in Slovakia (+125.2%), Slovenia (+14.6%), Estonia (+12.1%), Malta (+13.5%) and Poland (+8.3%).
ACI-Europe concludes that while medium and small sized airports were out-performing, the Spanish and Dutch hubs remained the most resilient to the global geopolitical instability.
The record double digit passenger traffic growth, since the beginning of 2026, shows the positive direction Macedonian airports development, thereby strengthening the country's position on the European aviation map.