Air Albania

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Air Albania
The Albanian Airlines logo
ZA-BEL at Tirana Airport
IATA code : ZBN
ICAO code : ABN
Call sign : AIR ALBANIA
Founding: May 16, 2018
Seat: Rinas ( Tirana ) Albania
AlbaniaAlbania 
Home airport : Tirana Airport
Company form: Corporation
Management: Sinan Dilek ( CEO )
Sinan Idrizi
Fleet size: 2
Aims: international
Website: airalbania.com.al

Air Albania is a national airline and thus the " flag carrier " of Albania . It has been operating since April 2019. The founding helper and largest shareholder is Turkish Airlines , the national company of Turkey .

history

founding

The first national airline in Albania was Albanian Airlines , which was not very profitable and uneconomical and had to cease operations in 2011.

In May 2017 the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced together with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that they wanted to set up an airline with the help of Turkish Airlines . On May 8, 2017, Rama and İlker Aycı , managing directors of Turkish Airlines, published a joint press release that the Albania-based airline was already being worked on. At the same time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan helped to build an international airport in Vlora on a personal occasion - in cooperation with the Turkish government . Rama announced the airline's new name on November 21, 2017.

Air Albania was founded in May 2018 by a consortium led by the Albanian and Turkish governments. 50.88% of the company is owned by Albanian companies, 10% of which are owned by the state air traffic control authority Albcontrol and 41% by the private company MDN Investment . Turkish Airlines owns 49.12% of Air Albania . The Albanian company MDN Investment was founded nine days earlier, on May 7, 2018, with Turkish Airlines helping to found the start-up company with 30 million .

The unclear financing and the non-transparent approach of Rama outside of the ordinary processes were criticized. Stef Blok announced in February 2019 that the European Commission would also investigate the award, as the government may have violated the stabilization agreement with the EU . Blok is one of the biggest critics of Albania joining the EU.

The first flight

In July 2018, Turkish Airlines leased one of its Airbus A319s from Air Albania. The aircraft was repainted, but still had the Turkish registration TC-JLR until March 2019 . The cabin has also been redesigned.

The maiden flight, widely celebrated by the media, took place on September 14, 2018. Initially, there was talk of a daily flight connection Tirana – Istanbul – Tirana. Air Albania operated as a virtual airline without its own aircraft and without its own code. The airline's only plane was also not regularly on the move. In October 2018, the national soccer team flew to Israel for an international match with Air Albania . In February 2019, the industry portal ch-aviation and national media reported that Air Albania had disappeared or was in limbo and the plane was being used again by Turkish Airlines itself. The TC-JLR aircraft had been parked for a long time at this point.

In February 2019, Infrastructure Minister Belinda Nalluku announced that an agreement could be reached with Turkish Airlines on the financing of the airline and that the certification would be completed in a few days. A month later she double-checked that the preparatory work and licensing of the staff were going well. The aircraft should also be taken over within the next two weeks, receive an Albanian registration and (re) start operations. On April 19, 2019, the airline's “first official flight” took place. The second aircraft followed on September 30, 2019, the Boeing 737-800 (TC-JZG), which is equipped with an in-flight entertainment system and is to be used for flights to Italy. In addition, a third aircraft is to follow at the end of 2019.

Destinations

Air Albania flies to four destinations in Europe, Bologna , Istanbul , Milan and Rome . It is planned to add other destinations in Western Europe, such as London, to the route network.

fleet

As of June 2020, Air Albania's fleet consists of two aircraft with an average age of 8.5 years:

Aircraft type number ordered Remarks Seats

( Business / Eco. )

Airbus A319-100 1 Baptismal name "Lasgushi" 132 (- / 132)
Boeing 737-800 1 equipped with winglets and in- flight entertainment system , baptized "Migjeni" 151 (16/135)
total 2 -

Web links

Commons : Air Albania  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Air Albania to launch flights in September - World Bulletin. In: World Bulletin. Retrieved August 29, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Avioni i parë i “Air Albania” ulet në Rinas, Rama: Nisi një epokë e re. Top Channel , September 14, 2018, accessed September 14, 2018 (Albanian).
  3. ↑ THY 30 milyon dolara resmen Air Albania'ya ortak. Retrieved October 3, 2018 (Turkish).
  4. ↑ a b Albania has a new airline. In: albanien.ch. September 15, 2018, accessed October 3, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Vincent WJ van Gerven Oei: Dutch MFA Blok: European Commission Will Address Possible Tender ... In: Exit.al. February 8, 2019, accessed February 19, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b Air Albania Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. Retrieved June 18, 2020 .
  7. ^ Flight history for aircraft - TC-JLR. In: Flightradar 24. Accessed October 3, 2018 (English).
  8. ↑ Izrael-Shqipëri / Air Albania çon Kombëtaren në Tel Aviv. In: Dritare.net. October 13, 2018, accessed October 16, 2018 (Albanian).
  9. ↑ Edison Kurani: IBNA's Observation / Why did Air Albania vanish from the skies? In: Independent Balkan News Agency. February 6, 2019, accessed February 7, 2019 .
  10. ↑ TC-JLR Air Albania Airbus A319-100. In: Planespotters.net. Retrieved February 7, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Air Albania's flights will start soon. In: Top Channel. February 15, 2019, accessed February 19, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Edison Çaushi: Avioni i Air Albania ngrihet në qiell brenda marsit. In: Albanian Telegraph Agency. March 15, 2019, accessed March 16, 2019 (Albanian).
  13. ↑ This Friday, Air Albania's first official flight. In: Top Channel. April 19, 2019, accessed April 19, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Air Albania adına ilk seferini THY ekibiyle Yapti. Retrieved October 1, 2019 (tr-TR).
  15. ^ Flag carrier Air Albania to add third aircraft to fleet by yr-end - PM. Retrieved October 1, 2019 .
  16. ^ Air Albania. Retrieved October 1, 2019 .