Talk:Skopje International Airport

IATA Name Approval Clarification
IATA does not regulate airport names, only their codes. The code of the airport has been SKP since the beginning. The actual name can be changed to whatever by the government at any time and IATA would have nothing to say about it as along as no one applies for a new airport code. Capricornis (talk) 19:28, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

NEW NAME
Has the name "actually" been approved by IATA?

Philhellenism 00:37, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

No, but our friends are very very very hurry! I don't even know if the picture is real, since there is nothing official from their govnerment, on the press or anywhere else, just only the willing to change the name, nothing more or nothing less! I believe for the reliability of wikipedia everything should change as they were before!

There is no Alexander the Great Airport (Skopje) nor Alexander the Great Airport (Kavala), but Skopje Airport (Petrovec) and Kavala International Airport (Megas Alexandros), Megas Alexandros = Alexander the Great in English...

so the ultra nationalists from both sides, stop the stupidities and revert everything as they were!!! --xvvx 09:20, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

The name has changed and the signs are real
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070113/ids_photos_wl/r2805831339.jpg

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/13012007/46/photo/traffic-sign-skopje-s-airport-renamed-alexsandar-veliki-alexander-great.html


 * You are kidding me right? The image you uploaded is official from where? Even if the image exists, that doesn't mean that the IATA/ICAO accepted that name... there is nothing official! And for the image that you uploaded, you deleted all the infos, that of course show that you have no real clue about the image license http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Image%3AL2308511.jpg&diff=100749199&oldid=100742507 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Image:L2308511.jpg&oldid=100742507 is that the official source Somewebsite/no license?


 * Even if there is a possibility that to change in the future, the official article name should be "Airport Aleksandar Veliki (Skopje)" and not "Alexander the Great Airport (Skopje)". —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sakis79 (talk • contribs) 01:55, 16 January 2007 (UTC).


 * This article is in English not Macedonian so the name should be Alexander the Great.

Another picture showing "Alexander the Great" http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070116/i/r4067697907.jpg —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.165.16.53 (talk) 21:59, 16 January 2007 (UTC).
 * No that's not correct! Wait first to see the name in IATA/ICAO and then we'll see the correct official name! See for example the Kavala International Airport "Megas Alexandros" ("Megas Alexandros"="Alexander the Great"), is the official name with latin characters http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=GR83147&sch=LGKV . When (and if) the change will happen, then the article name should be "Skopje Airport Aleksandar Veliki" (or something like that), just like the Kavala "Megas Alexandros" airport http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=GR83147&sch=LGKV . Then inside the article you can write what "Aleksandar Veliki" means. You must write the name in the official IATA/ICAO international form with latin characters, but if the official name will be "Aleksandar Veliki", then that's how the article must be named. Till now the name from IATA/ICAO is "Skopje Airport", if these organizations accept the name to change, then we can use that name! Till then, nothing must change! --xvvx 23:29, 16 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Apparently this talk page (and the above comment) is taken seriously, with the sign in question being correspondingly updated to show the English and French versions of the name as well :-) Apcbg 11:26, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Even if they write it in Chinese :-p the point is one... the name that will be used for the article name will be the official accepted name from IATA/ICAO (nothing has changed yet!), till then, they can expand the languages in the sign every time they read the wikipedia article :-) --xvvx 12:33, 17 January 2007 (UTC)


 * You think you're kidding, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did ... Next by extension, 'Thessaloniki' and 'Athens' (parts of that same guy's possessions) would seem like names that could be put to 'commercial' usage too :-) Apcbg 12:47, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

...or, more illustratively:
 * Charles de Gaulle would be renamed after Leonardo Da Vinci,
 * Otto Lilienthal after Frédéric Chopin,
 * Nikola Tesla after Aurel Vlaicu,
 * JFK Airport after Benito Juárez
 * or all of the above vice-versa LOL!

(like now Skopje Airport is/has being/been renamed to International Airport "Alexander the Great" <-mouseover that one)

That would be the best cultural exchange for 'commercial usage'! To quote the (apparently uneducated) MFA of Skopje Mr. Antonio Milososki "the historic military leader was an international figure and not the property of one country"<1> (despite all this and that), something that the UN mediator Mathew Nimetz himself said that "affected [the mediation attempt] and not in a positive way"...<2> NikoSilver 15:24, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Move warring
To all parties involved: The amount of move-warring observed here within the last two weeks, in relation to the ridiculous low volume and quality of debate here on talk, is disgusting. I've move-protected the article again. Please note that move-warring is even more damaging to the encyclopedia than simple revert warring, and any further occurrences (after this protection will have been lifted) will not be tolerated.

Discuss it, work it out here on talk, and then do a proper requested move when you're agreed. Until then, the page stays where it is. And, in the meantime, would those people who created the mess please clean up the double redirects? Fut.Perf. ☼ 20:03, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Name
I really don't know how airpors are supposed to be named in WP, but I guess we can easily find examples. For now, we got 3 sources:


 * The label photo
 * Makfax titled: Skopje's airport to be named "Alexander of Macedonia" (Skopje /26/12/ 18:25)
 * Kathimerini saying: The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) yesterday approved the renaming of the Skopje airport after Alexander the Great in a move Greece said will harm the country’s ties with its neighbors. (December 29, 2006)

I saw Sakis79 argue in an edit summary that a link from IATA or smthng is needed. I have no particular personal preference in the name of the article and wouldn't care if it were move-protected on any "wrong version" as long as the facts are stated. I don't find this article being the ideal place for including details of the dispute, apart from just mentioning the dispute, and the confusion with Kavala -ie. what is more-or-less already mentioned (In December 2006 the government of the Republic of Macedonia announced plans to rename the airport after Alexander the Great, sparking a renewed diplomatic spat with Greece, which considers Alexander the Great part of its own heritage (see Macedonia naming dispute). The new name is argued to create confusion with the already existing Kavala International Airport, "Megas Alexandros", which lies in the neighboring Greek region of Macedonia.)

I would appreciate if users would start writing detals about the airport itself; rather than about the name. I'd also like to know why tf I have to spend like 6 hours back and forth to go from Athens to Skopje while Greece has 50something% of the investments in the country. (0,5h drive to Athens Airport + 1h wait for flight + 1h flight to Salonika + 1.5h drive to Gevgeli + 1.5h drive to Skopje and same backwards). There used to be a flight by our Olympic Airways which was packed. Now there isn't. Does anybody with a brain to write something more than ALEXANDAR MAKEDONSKI or STRIKE ALEXANDAR MAKEDONSKI have an idea about it? NikoSilver 22:35, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Good point. All these naming debates aer typical examples quarreling over the color of the bikeshed anyway. :-) Fut.Perf. ☼ 00:37, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

To tell you the truth, I actually prefer it to be renamed! The more they expose themselves with such apparent appropriation attempts, the less they become convincing regarding the "self-identification" argument being the only reason for the name choice. (not to lose track of the bikeshed comment) :-D NikoSilver 00:54, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Niko you have a few options. I'll list them from most to least probable:

 /FunkyFly.talk_  02:39, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
 * 1) Buy a private jet.
 * 2) Get your friends and colleagues to call Olympic and say they want to travel to Skopje.
 * 3) Invent the teleport.
 * 4) Convince your deputy to vote for a bill in the parliament which will subsidize a flight to Skopje.
 * You got me! My message was simply "for throwing dust in the eyes" (as the Greek saying goes). I actually don't need any of the above, since it is publicly known that we Epsilonists can FLY!! NikoSilver 11:09, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

I would like to repeat Nikos question where are no flights from Greece. FunkyFly hints that no one want to fly unless Niko convinces his friends, and no politician in Greece wants to subsidize. I see that Macedonia has no national airline. Is the truth that too few want to travel or is Skopje banned as destination by Greek authorities?--BIL (talk) 10:02, 11 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Flights from Greece

MORE RENAMING
Meanwhile, Balkan Insight has learned that the authorities are considering a broader campaign to rename sites and streets after classical heroes, whether or not this angers Greece.

http://www.birn.eu.com/en/66/10/2105/ (11th paragraph)

Philhellenism 06:52, 25 January 2007 (UTC)


 * The Bulgarian President, Foreign Minister and high ranking Bulgarian diplomats have recently warned the Government of the Republic of Macedonia (RoM) that the time of automatic Bulgarian support for Skopje — in particular for their Atlantic and European integration — is over. Any future support (without which RoM could join neither NATO nor the European Union) will be conditional, depending on Skopje's adherence to the normal European standards of good neighbourship behaviour; Skopje's departure from their aggressive policies towards the Bulgarian history and culture; and Skopje's progress in abiding to the 1999 bilateral Agreement stipulating in particular that the RoM Government refrains from and discourages malicious propaganda against Bulgaria.  The present renaming campaign is hardly the right step towards good neighbourship policies indeed. Apcbg 10:25, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Unbelievable, it is a fact, everyone knows that the name has changed, it is allready changed my friends, and still you are being so difficult on this. It's clear to see that Wikipedia is under 100% Greek Regime, it's sad, but true. As for IATA, IATA has nothing to do with this, they only control Airlines, no airports, Skopje can rename it's airport whatever they want it to rename and IATA has nothing to say there.

Stop being so childish, lift the ban on this article and accept the fact that Skopje airport is now "Alexander the Great airport Skopje"  Makedonia 11:33, 30 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I have no problem in renaming this article on the following conditions:
 * non-conflicting sources are provided. Up to now, we have one source that says it will be renamed, and another that says it has been. Interestingly the source that claims it has been is Greek, and the one that says it will be is Macedonian Slavic. Street signs etc should not be considered definite sources IMO.
 * I've no idea about IATA, and its role. I'd like that explained and cited.
 * Creation of dab page in Alexander the Great Airport (and related pages) for Kavala International Airport and this one.
 * addition of:
 * {for|the unrelated airport of Kavala in the Greek periphery of Macedonia|Kavala International Airport} on top of this article, and
 * {for|the unrelated airport of Skopje|X name we choose for here} on top of the Kavala Airport article (no "RoM" in Greek related articles per Gdansk/Danzig precedent please).
 * NikoSilver 11:54, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

NO GREEK REGIME HERE
Government(s) can change it to what ever they want, but when airlines land at Skopje Airport, they will be saying that.... "Skopje Airport", unless IATA has approved/recognised it.


 * http://www.iata.org/membership/airline_members?All=true
 * http://www.world-airport-codes.com/macedonia/petrovec-6959.html

Philhellenism 01:04, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Just to add a small part from an article from BBC NEWS...

The name change needs to be approved by international air traffic authorities before it can be enforced.

Dispute over 'Alexander airport' (Friday, 29 December 2006)

So the name cannot be changed until we have the approval and see of course what the final accepted name will be. Then we can change the article name ;-) --xvvx 21:20, 2 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh how bogus is this dude?


 * However, Macedonia's Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said the decision was a "goodwill" gesture, "with which we wanted to pay our respects to this historic person who brings peoples and countries together. We didn't have any intention to monopolise the name," he added.


 * Was he even able to say that with a straight face? "Goodwill gesture" my foot. ;-p --YXY 7 February 2007

Anyone who has been to the so called "airport" in Skopje knows that it is a real joke. The airport is probably the most miserable one I have been in a while. There is nothing bad in naming it Alexander the Great but it's really pathetic when you juxtapose AtG to an airport facility, which would be a disgrace to a 3rd world country even. Not to mention that there are like 3 flights a day leaving the airport. I don't know what the MK politicians think they are doing but if the ordinary people are so stupid to allow this parody to take place, maybe they do deserve Greece's attitude... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.48.121.104 (talk) 03:41, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Philhellenism, your website shows the "airport name" as "Alexander the great Airport", the article of the page will be changed accordingly. Mactruth (talk) 06:02, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Name dispute issues
Given that the name dispute is mentioned in the article it is highly relevant to mention who and what this Alexander person was. It would be standard in any other article to describe the person after whom something is named so I don't see why this should be an issue here. If some editors feel the information is incorrect they can certainly take it to the relevant articles. Or their government.--Xenovatis (talk) 19:00, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I stand by my earlier statement that its inclusion is non-essential, since any reader can easily click the Alexander the Great link for further information. The naming dispute is already covered in the second paragraph of the lead: "where both countries consider Alexander the Great as part of their own heritage," which seems a fair and neutral way of explaining the situation. The inclusion of your preferred text in in the first sentence breaks the rhythm of the line and seems to be intended to stir up strife with Macedonian editors. From an encyclopedic standpoint, this not acceptable. Kafka Liz (talk) 19:46, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The WP article on Alex manages to state in a neutral way that he was Greek. If the inclusion of this fact, which is related to the dispute since it explains the Greek position on the issue is uncomfortable to some editors that is unfortunate but it shouldn't be used as an excuse to withhold relevant information. To omit the fact that he was greek is to commit the middle ground fallacy because you can't describe the WP:CONTROVERSY if you omit a key fact.--Xenovatis (talk) 20:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
 * If you really feel that the fact that Alexander was a Greek is relevant and needs to be included, it should be second paragraph where the controversy is described. I have no wish to deny Greeks any part of their ample patrimony, nor to protect Macedonian self-esteem. I worry, though, that the inclusion will lead to further edit warring, and given that this article is about the airport and provides numerous links explaining both the controversy in general and the identity of Alexander the Great, I believe this particular assertion is unnecessary in this context. Kafka Liz (talk) 21:00, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh well fair enough. I won't push this anymore.Take care.--Xenovatis (talk) 21:24, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
 * But it would be worthwhile to see this page Александар III Македонски or this one Св. Кирил и Методиј and consider whether Slavomacedonians are really best served by keeping them in the echo chamber they have created for themselves as opposed to helping them face reality.--Xenovatis (talk) 14:57, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm afraid I can't read Macedonian, though I am well aware of the problematic nature of the mk:wiki articles. Even if I could participate, I would probably be banned almost immediately. You might find this thread and this involving administrator Future Perfect at Sunrise of interest, as well as the ensuing discussion on FP's mk userpage In any case, my main concern is to try to keep the English language articles stable, neutral and concise. Kafka Liz (talk) 16:12, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the info. It is very interesting. Take care.--Xenovatis (talk) 16:17, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

I noticed that a reference to Alexander's ethnicity was inserted into the second paragraph after the information was amicably removed from the first. The addition has been subject to edit warring since. I would like to suggest that this information is irrelevant to the airport and should be left out of the article. Readers may easily find the facts by following the link to Alexander the Great. Once again, links to the Macedonian naming dispute are present, and anyone wishing to investigate this issue may also follow the these. Aramgar (talk) 21:34, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Improvement on the Alexander the Great airport
The lenght of the runaway has changed to 2950 m.and there is new building: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB5M0SxCTN8&feature=youtu.be — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.217.13.18 (talk) 22:38, 8 September 2011 (UTC)

Taxi price
The taxi price is more expensive than the one written inside the article you can find the prices on the official web site of the Airport http://skp.airports.com.mk/default.aspx?ItemID=384 but this prices are from the airport taxi company, but when it comes to private companies the prices can be even higher than this one because the taxi price in Skopje is changed and it can vary from company to company (it is not a big variable but it is like 2-7 euros, it differs from the neighborhood that you would like to go). Usually will be around 25 euros from the airport to the city center which is like 30km from the airport. Daci92 (talk) 03:27, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Forgot to mention 1 Euro is equal to 61.30 to 61.60 Denars so 25 Euros will be around 1550 Denars. Daci92 (talk) 03:30, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Airport has a new name
The airport has been renamed officially into International airport Skopje ("Од 53-тата седница на Владата на РМ: Автопатот „Александар Македонски“ преименуван во „Пријателство“; новото име на аеродромот „Александар Велики“ е „Аеродром Скопје“; усвоена информацијата за потребата од воведување на единствен број за итни повици Е-112"). Certain individuals are preventing the move and the change based on unknown motives. Prevent that and allow factual data to be present on Wikipedia. Macedonicus (talk) 13:41, 7 February 2018 (UTC)


 * From 06.02.2018 the airport no longer bears the name "Alexander the Great". The name of the article should reflect the new official name of the airport, International Airport Skopje (Zoran Zaev, "Името ќе биде Меѓународен аеродром Скопје.", source). Digital worm (talk) 14:20, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

Current Name
According to the website for the airport given in the external link (http://skp.airports.com.mk/default.aspx?ItemID=345). The English name of the Airport is now Skopje International Airport. I believe it should be given that name.Naraht (talk) 16:01, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

Previous names
The airport was previously known as 'Petrovec Airport' and 'Skopje "Alexander the Great" Airport'. These two names should be included in the article's first sentence in the same way as it is in the articles on Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport or Istanbul Atatürk Airport.--Kiril Simeonovski (talk) 07:42, 8 May 2018 (UTC)