“Hundreds of firefighting vehicles, helicopters and planes fought the wildfires. There were launched almost 100 missions from the air, hundreds of interventions on the ground and this country, challenged like no other year by fires, did not break, on the contrary, it showed that the Civil Protection Mechanism from the most remote village to Tirana downtown or vice versa, could and knew how to make its best, although there is still much to do”, said Rama.

“Of course, there were also the online firefighting experts and the usual arsonists of our public and digital assembly, but Albania was not protected by them. Albania was protected by the sweat, courage and sacrifice of those 10 thousand or so people in the line of fire”, emphasized Rama.

This, he added, “is the simple truth and the only truth worth saying out loud, while from Spain to France, from Turkey to Portugal, Italy and Greece, the entire Mediterranean was on fire like never before this summer”.

Therefore, the head of government added, “When we hear voices cursing Albania for not having its own firefighting aircraft, we must keep in mind a very simple truth. Aircrafts are not magicians. They are powerful useful means, which we have not lacked thanks to the European Civil Protection Mechanism, of which we, Albania, are a part with equal rights, but they are by no means omnipotent”.

“22 latest generation aircrafts could not prevent the flames from burning and scorching Izmir area extensively, opening a painful wound on the land of friendly Turkey and causing tens of thousands of people to be evacuated”, Rama said.

“Just as the largest air force on the world could not avoid the tragic burning of a large settlement like Tirana, in Los Angeles”, Rama underlined.

Rama emphasized that, “Aircraft are undoubtedly a powerful weapon in battle. We too will soon have our own aircraft fleet, which will begin to be built beginning with two firefighting aircrafts, but the magic, if we can call it that, is the coordination and sacrifice of the people on the ground”.

Rama thanked the representatives of the EU and friendly countries, as he put it, “Thanks to the solidarity network and thanks to Albania’s integration into the European Civil Protection Mechanism, we have managed to avoid the worst. And Croatia, Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden and, as always, Italy, deserve special thanks because they continuously sent aircraft to extinguish the fires in context of the Mechanism”. /gj.m/j.p/p.s./

Prime Minister Edi Rama reacted in a post in the social media to the debates regarding the government purchase of firefighting aircrafts.

“There is an ongoing debate on why Albania does not buy firefighting aircrafts, while there are some calculations that need to be made and the fires of recent days are by no means a matter of one or two or even three aircrafts! Okay, it would be good to have them, but…”, Rama emphasized.

The head of government stated that, “I say, during these days, we have more air assets than any year before, thanks to our fleet and support from the European Mechanism or the United Arab Emirates. Hence, I invite everyone to raise a question: What about our neighbors, Greece and Italy or Turkey and Spain, who are suffering from wildfires worse than any other year, do they have a shortage of aircrafts?!”

“Let me provide some information based on the Greek press’s own references for Greece, for example: Greece has a total air fleet of 77 firefighting aircraft; there are about 20 helicopters; approximately 3,500 other vehicles and firefighters of all types and functions. So, let’s put simply. The more, the better, but still curing the consequences does not eliminate the causes, which are several, are the same for all countries that are suffering from fires this season (some much worse than us, by the way) and are much more complex than they seem when you count the aircrafts,” said Rama. /k.s/j.p/p.s./

Defense Minister Pirro Vengu gave the news in a television interview.

Vengu also said that the funds for the firefighting aircrafts have already been allocated. And we are waiting the production of the aircrafts and training of the pilots.

“During the current year, we have had 5 firefighting helicopters available, engaged 24 hours a day. We have never had such a number of firefighting means before. There has been a significant improvement in civil protection with air support,” said Vengu.

According to him, “Now, we will continue to be reinforced with firefighting aircrafts.”

On the other hand, Vengu emphasized that the fleet of firefighting vehicles is being completely renewed throughout the country. /r.e/p.s./

The firefighting forces on the ground are working to isolate and control the flames.

In Lura, about 100 forces from all operational structures have been engaged to put out three fires. About 25 firefighting and municipal forces have been added today.

In the village of Zall-Gjoçaj, the municipality of Mat there are efforts underway to extinguish the fire with about 60 local forces and from the Armed Forces on the ground. Meanwhile, the Croatian Canadair aircraft has carried out 9 missions.

In Dukat, thanks to the intervention of two Air Force helicopters, the fire situation has been improved.

There is work underway to extinguish the fire in Delvina. There, four firefighting vehicles and about 70 forces from operational structures have been deployed on the ground and 2 Cougar helicopters of the Air Force have operated.

Emergency forces, assisted by 3 aircrafts and 1 helicopter from the Greek state, were engaged in extinguishing the fire in the village of Kakavijë, Dropull municipality.

In Kurbin municipality, the fire continues to burn, which has also spread to the territory of Mirditë municipality. There has been a high level of commitment from the forces, as well as 2 Hungarian helicopters, divided into 3 missions, significantly reducing the intensity of the fire. Currently, the homes are out of danger. Today, the work to extinguish the fire will continue, again with the intervention of two Hungarian helicopters.

Today, it’s a very hot day with temperatures soaring to 42 degrees Celsius.

Authorities called on citizens to show maximum caution, to avoid any action that could cause a fire and to immediately report any suspicious fire to the relevant structures. /p.s./

Air Albania recently announced it will dry-lease two A320-200s directly from GA Telesis, its first aircraft not sourced via parent company Turkish Airlines.

The Albanian flag carrier plans to finalise the contract on the two 180-seater jets later this summer season.

According to CH-Aviation, the leaser owns ten A320-200s, five of which are placed with United Airlines (UA, Chicago O’Hare), and five more are in storage.

The two new A320s will support Air Albania’s planned network growth. In early April, the carrier launched scheduled flights from the newly opened Kukës airport in the north of the country to Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg, CH and Zurich.

In July, it will launch services from Tirana to Antalya and Bodrum Milas.

/r.e/u.sh/