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Skopje Airport to be upgraded through EBRD loan
An urgent safety-related upgrading of Skopje Airport will be undertaken under the terms of a DEM 17.8 million (ECU 9.7 million) loan in favour of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, signed today by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
At the signing ceremony in London, Joachim Jahnke, EBRD Deputy Vice President, said: “The main objective of this project is to ensure that safe and efficient air links are maintained with FYR Macedonia, a landlocked country which is highly dependent on air transport. Skopje Airport is of crucial importance to the economy of the country and is a source of substantial foreign exchange earnings. This loan will ensure safe and efficient operation of civil air traffic at Skopje and encourage other airlines to serve the airport.”
The project will involve the rehabilitation and upgrading of the airport airside facilities in order to ensure safe operations, under the forecast traffic conditions, for a period of at least 10 years. The loan will help improve the runway, taxiways and lighting system to optimise the airport’s capacity, and will help the aviation authorities to maintain the improved facilities and to plan the airport’s long-term development. Repair and strengthening of the runway structure will allow it to handle aircraft of up to 160 tons. The minimum-cost upgrading of the taxiways will almost double the airport’s present capacity to about 20,000 takeoffs and landings a year. The loan is being made directly to the state and has an 8-year term, including a 1.5 year grace period.
FYR Macedonia is completely dependent on its neighbours for external trade. It has two international-class airports - Skopje and Ohrid. Skopje Airport, some 16km from the capital, is the main gateway to the country. In 1994, traffic at Skopje Airport was estimated at 12,600 takeoffs and landings, carrying 660,000 passengers and 4,300 tons of cargo.
This is the second aviation project that the EBRD has supported in FYR Macedonia. It is a logical sequel and a complementary project to an earlier EBRD air navigation project.
Project preparation is funded by Canadian technical cooperation funds in the amount of US$ 230,000. The United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA) will fund the preparation of the airport development plan in an amount of US$ 150,000.
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