The first Master Plan for Thessalonica airport “Macedonia” was issued in 1996 in view of the prospects of Thessalonica as a major financial pole in the Balkans and with the scope for Macedonia Airport to pay the role of the principal Balkan hub.

Regarding the airside the upgrade of the airport consisted in the extension of runway “10-28” and the parallel taxiway “F” by 1000m, to a total length of 3440m.

Upon a feasibility study conducted in 2006 the project of the airside upgrade was selected and integrated into the Community Support Framework (CSF), within which part of the project was implemented. Upon the end of the CSF period, the completion of the project will be materialized through the National Strategic Development Plan.

Still, the changes due to the integration of Romania and Bulgaria into the EU and the development of Constantinople Airport as a major Balkan hub in the order of 35 million passengers per year had dramatically changed the environment within which the airport upgrade had been justified as feasible on the first place.

The study aimed in the upgrade of the operational plan and the justification of the project’s feasibility within the new social and financial environment, especially the one of the major economic crisis post 2009.

The study successfully justified the feasibility of the project upon the new worldwide trends of the aviation and tourism industries, especially the ones of the emerging economies (China, India, South American etc) along with a “pro-active” strategy in order for the airport to become capable of hosting long haul flights from the emerging major tourist trip generators.

Services provided:

Update of the operational plan, including:

• The transport system of the airport catchment area
• The technical characteristics of the project in relation with other parallel projects
• Traffic forecasts
• Development of pricing policy
• Operational characteristics

Update of the cost – benefit analysis, including:

• Financial analysis
• Analysis of socioeconomic impact
• Socioeconomic analysis and respective IRR

Upgrade of the financing application

Support to the client