Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, in the presence of Vice-Premier for European affairs Vladimir Pesevski, Transport, Communication Minister Mile Janakieski, TAV Airports Holding CEO Sani Sener and great number of guests, opened Sunday the reconstructed Ohrid St Paul the Apostle International Airport.

A long-term need has now been met and the airport got its new image before the new tourist season, Gruevski said at the ceremony.

"This project is rather significant for Ohrid and the development of tourism in the region. We hope for the reconstruction to contribute to the airport's efficiency and naturally to increase the number of passengers," Gruevski said.

Vice-Premier Pesevski said that the reconstruction of Macedonia's airports had already brought results, namely the number of passengers using Skopje and Ohrid Airport in Q1 of 2011 has been higher for five and 70% respectively in comparison to last year.

Better airport services and capacities will bring more passengers, tourists, this contributing to the country's economy, TAV CEO Sener said.

"Calculations say that million passengers mean million new jobs only with the airports, plus two million in the nearby cities. I really believe that tourists will be more interested in Ohrid and the ongoing TAV activities are to that effect," Sener said.

He also expressed satisfaction that the Skopje Airport reconstruction would be completed before the set deadline. It will be formally opened on Macedonia's Independence Day - September 8, Sener said.

TAV Airports Holding, is investing EUR200m in Macedonia to renovate the two airports in Skopje and Ohrid, and to build a new cargo airport in Stip.

TAV began managing Macedonia’s airports in March 2010 after signing a 20-year agreement with the government.