Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro gave the news appreciating that this step “will increase visitor flows by bringing us closer to our compatriots in the Diaspora”.

“Very soon, from Tirana International Airport to Birmingham, Dublin, Milan, Malta, Naples, Pescara, Poznan, Trieste, Turin and Verona, increasing visitor flows and bringing us closer to our compatriots in the Diaspora”, said Kumbaro.

Ryanair has started flights to Albania from October 31, 2023, initially with 17 destinations.

Meanwhile, the opening of the new base of the Ryanair airlines, which is expected to start operations in April 2026 at Tirana International Airport (TIA) will mark another important step in the development of air infrastructure and tourism in Albania.

The new base will have three Boeing 737-800 aircrafts, which will operate flights to 10 new destinations.

In addition to the new destinations, the Ryanair will also increase frequencies on the most popular existing routes, bringing a total network of 33 destinations in 13 different countries. /m.m/j.p/p.s./

The launch of the new base of Ryanair, Albania’s fastest growing airline, marks a significant step to rapid growth in traffic, tourism, investment, and jobs in the country.

The facility will host three Boeing 737-800 aircraft, serving 10 new destinations, including Birmingham (UK), Dublin (Ireland), Milan, Naples, Trieste, Torino, Verona, Pescara (Italy), Malta, and Poznan (Poland).

Ryanair also plans to increase frequencies on its most popular existing routes, expanding its network from Tirana to 33 destinations across 13 countries.

The move is expected to boost Albania’s economic growth, increasing annual passenger traffic to 4 million and supporting over 3,000 jobs.

Tirana International Airport is among the fastest-growing airports in the region.

/r.e//a.f/u.sh/

Prime Minister Edi Rama highlighted that this company will perform 200 flights per week to 17 destinations.

“The Ryanair airline has started flights in Albania since yesterday, with the first destination being Rome. The company will perform 200 flights per week to 17 destinations”, said Rama.

Ryanair has scheduled a total of 17 new routes to and from Albania, linking the country to important tourism markets such as Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The Ryanair flights not only increases connectivity and tourism in our region, but also creates employment opportunities and makes travel more reasonable and easy for Albanian citizens and visitors to Albania./p.s./

Also present were the CEO of the “Ryanair” Michael O’Leary and managers of the International Airport of Tirana.

Minister Mete praised the launch of “Ryanair’s” operation in our country, which by the end of 2023 has predicted about 200 flights per week, to 17 destinations and the creation of about 1 thousand new jobs.

“The arrival of a company like the “Ryanair”, a name with so much experience in the European aviation industry, is expected to bring more diversification, opportunities and of course in this case even more new destinations for direct flights with Tirana, such as Bucharest and Prague” , said Mete.

During his speech, the minister emphasized the fact that tourism in the country has grown this year and Albania has already become a favorite destination almost all year round.

The increase in the number of passengers, said Mete, has increased the competition and the interest of “low cost” companies to operate in Albania, increasing the number of flights and their presence shows that the country is turning into an important tourist destination.

Minister Mete said that, “The Government intends to further support and develop the airport infrastructure and its connections with the road and railway networks, as well as all the support services related to the tourism industry.”

The operation of the “Ryanair” Company, concluded Mete, will further highlight the image of Albania as a tourist destination./p.s./

“Ryanair”, one of the most popular low-cost companies in the world, will start its operations from the “Mother Teresa” international airport, initially with 18 destinations, of which 9 new destinations. This is one more opportunity for all passengers which will further influence the increase in competition, but also a strong indicator of the standards we are reaching day by day at Tirana airport”, said Kumbaro.

The minister estimated that, “Over 6 million are expected to be the number of passengers handled during 2023”.

She added that, “Through the investments made, we are creating all the facilities for every traveler without causing any delays”.

“The change between what we were and where we are today is as different as night and day, but there is always more work to be done,” she added. /m.m/ /gj.m/p.s./

The investment project successfully completed and the airport’s expanded infrastructure now provides quality services to travellers. The project was designed to meet the evolving needs and the year-on-year exponential growth in passenger numbers, currently setting records high, totally unimaginable until recently.

The investments to date will increase the international airport’s passenger capacity to over 6 million annually.

Low cost carrier Ryanair is expected to add up to the fleet currently operating to and from Mother Teresa International Airport, increasing the number of new routes and destinations and enhancing the competition.

Prime Minister Edi Rama inspected the newly-built airport premises and extended welcome to low-cost airline, Ryanair:

* * *

The truth is that I have been waiting for so long for this day to come and it has specifically to do with Ryanair airline. The airline’s CEO didn’t say the whole truth, because we have been demanding for Ryanair to launch its operations for some time now and its hesitation to come to Albania was not simply related to the airport’s high tax rate, but it actually had to do with another factor that someone has already explained to me some years ago when I asked him what to do so that Ryanair launches its operations from and to Albania. He told me that “Ryanair is not just an airline, but it is the stamp sealed on a country when this country becomes a global tourist destination. The fact that Ryanair is still shunning you and it means that you haven’t turned the country into a global tourist destination yet.”

It is for this reason that I am here today, because the launch of 18 new destinations by Ryanair airline from Tirana to all over Europe means that we have been awarded an important stamp, which is the outcome of a long effort to fundamentally change not only the image of Albania, which is making the headlines on the international media as a destination not to be missed, but to change many things precisely related to creation of such image. The sea in Albania was equally beautiful 10 years ago, the sun shone equally brightly 10 years ago, its mountains were certainly there 10 years ago, but, unfortunately, it lacked everything else to make people all over the world wanting to visit Albania.

Earlier today I met with the UNUM Festival organizers in the coastal town of Shëngjin. I attended the Festival’s first edition when we barely succeeded in attracting 1500 participants. This year’s edition saw the participation of 20,000 people of dozens of nationalities, not only from Europe, but also from Mexico, Latin America, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and many other countries. The problem facing the Festival’s organizers today is completely the opposite. They were nervous because of the small number of the participants in the first edition of the Festival, whereas they are now worried how to cope with the exponentially increasing number of participants that may surge to 40,000, 50,000 or even 60,000 soon, as it may run counter to the Festival’s very nature.

Having said all these, let’s return to the Tirana International Airport, which is not a great success story of an Albanian company. After being under the yoke of a concessionary contract for many years, although such a contract was finalized for good purpose as it actually expanded and transformed the Rinas airport, still the contract was a horrible one regarding its terms, making it the most expensive airport and with the highest fares in Europe and the most expensive flight tickets consequently.

The situation has been fundamentally overturned now, simply because we have finally liberated the airport from the concessionary contract’s yoke, as well as thanks to the Albania company that faced prejudices, just like we did upon delivering on such a change that, after all, was not an outcome of our will, but it was the result of the ambition and courage of this company that negotiated and acquired control over airport from foreigners. Facts speak now for themselves, clearly telling a completely different story although the airport is still an evolving and developing being and I am convinced that new spaces and more facilities will be needed soon. In addition to that, the long-time parking issue is now being tackled. The company is also planning another major investment on solar energy, as the airport’s manager announced. This is incredibly positive news and Tirana Airport, according to European Aviation data, is the only airport in Europe to fully recover after the pandemic, with data showing 123 reaching post-pandemic recovery milestones, with Istanbul airport ranking second with 92% and followed by other airports. This airport handled 5.2 million passengers last year, a record high and unimaginable number of passengers just a few years ago and this year’s projections by the Civil Aviation suggest a total of 6.5 million passengers, although the company expects a higher number of over 7 million passengers. The 5.2 million passengers figure last year was indeed the target to be reached by 2027 and I am convinced that the 10 million passengers target will be met well ahead of 2030.

Once the new Vlora international airport becomes operational, Albania’s tourism capacities will increase exponentially and the country’s economy will grow and its image as a global tourist destination will further increase, which would be translated into more new jobs, more connectivity, more trade exchanges, improved tourism services and quality services.

I will conclude my speech by focusing again on the reason why we are here today. I would like to thank the Ryanir’s CEO, who honoured us with his presence. He looks like someone losing his luggage in the airport, but he is one of the biggest oligarchs of the world aviation industry and I am very happy to have him here among us today, because I was waiting for so long for this day and tell him: You didn’t trust Albania, but Albania forced you to trust it and here you are today. Forcing an Italian to surrender is pretty easy, but you can rarely and hardly see an Irish giving up, and at the end of the day you should know that if you are champions of stubbornness in the British peninsula, we are the champions of stubbornness here in the Balkans, and the Balkans is the volcano of stubbornness in Europe.

Thank you very much!

/u.sh/