Goodbye Alexander the Great: Skopje’s airport renamed

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Macedonia has completed the renaming of its international airport, formerly called Alexander the Great, in a goodwill gesture to neighbouring Greece.

Turkish consortium TAV, which operates the airport, removed the three-meter (10-foot) letters spelling out the name of the ancient warrior king in February, replacing them Tuesday with the words “Skopje International Airport.”

Greece and Macedonia have been at odds for decades over the former Yugoslav republic’s name, which Athens says implies territorial claims on its own northern province of the same name.

Macedonia’s previous conservative government erected a number of monuments to Alexander and named its main highway and airport after him, infuriating Greece which saw it as a usurpation of its own ancient history.

Relations have since improved, and talks to resolve the issue have intensified.