Tirana Airport

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tirana International Airport "Nënë Tereza"
Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës Nenë Tereza
Tirana Airport Logo.svg
Terminal jashte.jpg
Characteristics
ICAO code LATI
IATA code TIA
Coordinates

41 ° 24 '53 "  N , 19 ° 43' 14"  E Coordinates: 41 ° 24 '53 "  N , 19 ° 43' 14"  E
Height above MSL 38 m (125  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center 17 km northwest of Tirana
Street two-lane motorway slip road (SH60)
Basic data
opening 1958
operator Tirana Airport Partners SHPK
Terminals 1
Passengers 3,338,147 (2019)
Air freight 2372 t (2019)
Flight
movements 		28,270 (2019)
Capacity
( PAX per year) 		1.8 million
Employees approx. 1263 (2019)
Start-and runway
18/36 2750 m × 45 m asphalt

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The Tirana (Tirana International Airport "Nënë Tereza") Airport ( Albanian for Mother Teresa is) the only international airport in Albania . It is located 17 kilometers northwest of Tirana near the village of Rinas , after which it was previously named. In terms of passenger numbers, it is one of the largest airports in the region and has more traffic than Skopje , Pristina and Podgorica .

The airport is also used by the Albanian Air Force .

history

Old airport building and apron from the air

The airport was built from 1954 to 1957 for military reasons and was opened by the Soviets for a few flights per week in 1958. It replaced the old Lapraka airfield on the (then) western edge of the city of Tirana. After the end of the Second World War, individual airlines from capitalist countries ( Alitalia and Air France ) also took up flight connections to Tirana, but the city was mainly served by airlines from communist states such as Aeroflot , JAT , TAROM , Interflug and Malév . After Albania's break with the Eastern Bloc in 1961, air traffic was greatly reduced. The Chinese CAAC flew to Tirana once a week from 1973 onwards. In 1977, Olympic, for the first time since the country's isolation began in the early 1960s, an airline from a capitalist state resumed regular air traffic, followed by Swissair (1987) and Lufthansa (1989), among others . After the political change in Albania in 1991 and the associated opening up of the country's foreign policy, many other foreign airlines were finally able to set up connections to Tirana.

From 1992 the newly founded Albanian Airlines flew to destinations abroad. After the end of communism in the early 1990s, traffic and passenger numbers increased rapidly. The modest infrastructure reached its limits. At the beginning, the slope consisted of octagonal concrete slabs and was often grazed by herds of sheep and goats . During the Kosovo war in 1999, the American army took over the operation of the airport, which was temporarily closed to civil flights after Albania transferred control of the airspace to NATO . In just one month, C-17 transport aircraft have flown in more than 200,000 tons of equipment and supplies for the American armed forces in over 500 flights despite the short runway, limited space and poor infrastructure. The air traffic control system, the runway, the apron and access roads were expanded in a short time. In 2001 the terminal was renovated with support from the Canadian government.

American UH-60 Black Hawk attack helicopter during the Kosovo War (1999 photo)

In 2003, the airport, which until then had been called Tirana Rinas Airport , was renamed in her honor on the occasion of the beatification of Mother Teresa .

On September 16, 2004, an armed military jet of the Albanian Air Force , a Chinese license build of the MiG-19 , crashed immediately after take-off and crashed on the edge of the airport grounds. The pilot was killed.

In autumn 2004 the airport, which until then had been operated by the state company Albtransport , was privatized. The Albanian government signed a concession agreement with an international consortium led by the Essen-based company Hochtief AirPort . Accordingly, Hochtief has a 47% stake in the airport. In addition, Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft holds 31.7% and Albanian-American Enterprise Fund with 21.3% of the shares. The contract stipulated that Hochtief - now renamed Avialliance - would be allowed to operate the airport for the next 20 years. This involves numerous extensions and modernizations. In 2005 the construction of a new terminal started. A bridge on the access road from the north was also renewed and a direct connection to the Tirana - Durrës motorway was built. The new terminal went into operation in March 2007.

In October 2006, an unarmed Turk hijacked a Turkish Airlines plane on its flight from Tirana to Istanbul. The fugitive conscientious objector and converted Catholic wanted to speak to the Pope and demanded that the pilot fly to Rome. The fuel was not enough for this, which is why the plane landed in Brindisi . The abduction ended non-violently without harm to anyone after the bomber gave up and sought asylum in Italy .

Important key figures since the takeover by the consortium
Year of operation Passenger volume Air freight ( t ) Flight movements Employees
2005 785,000 2000 15,400 760
2006 906.103 1603 15,856 930
2007 1,105,770 1695 18,258 950
2008 1,267,041 1987 19.194 1091
2009 1,394,688 1711 20,064 1007
2010 1,536,822 1785 20,768 1012
2011 1,817,073 2656 22,988 1026
2012 1,665,331 1875 20,528 1000
2013 1,757,342 2164 19,942 995
2014 1,810,305 2324 17,928 1001
2015 1,997,044 2229 20,876 1010
2016 2,195,100 2200 22,352 1020
2017 2,630,338 2266 24,582 1040
2018 2,947,172 2249 25,426 1077
2019 3,338,147 2372 28,270 1263

The number of passengers increased from 1998 to 2007 at an average annual rate of 16%. In 2007 more than one million passengers were counted for the first time in a year. Even in the crisis year 2009, with almost 1.4 million passengers, an increase of ten percent was achieved. By contrast, air freight fell in 2009. In 2010 the airport was able to record an increase in passengers of over 10 percent. 44 percent of the 1.53 million passengers flew with Belle Air, followed by Alitalia, Albanian Airlines and Austrian Airlines. In 2010 the air freight numbers rose again by around 4 percent. In 2011, new records were again achieved with 1,817,073 passengers and 2,656 tons of air freight. In 2012 the numbers fell slightly for the first time. In 2013, despite the bankruptcy of Belle Air, passenger numbers rose by 5.5%, but flight movements fell by 2.9% and cargo volume by 4.2%.

Overall, since the takeover by the international consortium in 2005, the number of passengers and the number of employees have increased by almost 100 percent and flight movements have increased by around 33 percent. Only the figures for air freight are negative: while 2000 tons of air freight were still transported in 2005, after five years it was 1785 tons. The reason for this is that imports and exports are mostly transported by land or sea. The airport's financial figures are also positive: in 2006 the TIA closed with a turnover of 19.6 million euros , in 2010 the same rose by around 50 percent to around 30 million euros.

In April 2016, the Albanian government and the airport operator adjusted the concession agreement. After long negotiations, an agreement was reached to extend the concession for two years. In return, Tirana Airport loses the exclusive right to international flight connections to Albania. This will enable the Kukës airport to go into operation and further airports to be built in the south of the country. Should such be built, the concession period is extended further according to the agreement. In the same month, the joint venture Keen Dynamics Limited , owned by Hong Kong- based China Everbright and Friedmann Pacific Asset Management , reported that they had signed a purchase agreement with the owners of the airport; further details were not disclosed. In October 2016 it was announced that China Everbright now owns all shares in the airport operating company.

In December 2016, the number of two million passengers per year was exceeded for the first time. At this point in time, 14 airlines connected the airport with 36 destinations. Almost three million passengers were carried in 2018; Blue Panorama with 21%, Ernest Airlines with 12% and Albawings with 11% had the largest shares in the passenger volume.

Infrastructure

New terminal building

The airport has a runway and a terminal. The airport's infrastructure has been continuously modernized in recent years so that it meets international standards: the new passenger terminal with shops, bars, duty-free and restaurants as well as a new cargo terminal were opened on March 21, 2007. In addition, the road connection was improved, a new parking lot was created and a sewage treatment plant was built. The approximately seven kilometers of new two-lane road connects the airport directly with the A1 motorway .

In order to cope with the rapidly increasing number of passengers, an expansion of the terminal was started in 2008 and was completed in September 2009. Since then, more check-in counters, a few additional gates and shops and expanded business lounges have been available. The terminal was expanded by 4,000 square meters. This will increase the airport's capacity to 1.5 to 1.8 million passengers per year. Overall, the construction costs of the extension amounted to 20 million euros.

On May 3, 2011, the new tower and the new air traffic control center were officially opened by the Albanian Minister of Transport Sokol Olldashi . The costs amounted to around 12.5 million euros.

It is planned to connect the airport to the Albanian railway network with regular connections to the new Tirana train station .

Various service providers such as hotels, restaurants and car rental companies have settled around the airport. Aviation authorities and the border police are also located near the terminal.

Airlines and Destinations

Austrian Airlines aircraft on the apron

The airport is served by around a dozen European airlines, particularly from neighboring countries. In the 2018/19 winter flight schedule, there are direct connections to around 25 destinations in Europe. From German-speaking countries Tirana is served daily by Austrian Airlines from Vienna and Lufthansa from Frankfurt . In addition, Wizz Air flies twice a week from Dortmund , Eurowings once a week from Cologne / Bonn , since April 2019 Edelweiss Air twice a week from Zurich and since June 2019 Albawings three times a week from Düsseldorf and Basel-Mulhouse to Tirana.

Tirana is the home airport of the Albanian low-cost airline Albawings and the national airline Air Albania , which started operations in September 2018. Belle Air previously operated from Tirana until it ceased operations on November 25, 2013 for economic reasons. Belle Air carried around half of the passengers at the airport. Tirana Airport was also the base of the former airlines Albanian Airlines , Ada Air Albania , Albatros Airways , Star Airways and Ernest Airlines . After the latter's license was withdrawn, Wizz Air announced that it would add several routes between Italy and Albania to the flight network.

Approach routes

With the prevailing weak west wind, aircraft landing and taking off usually have cross winds.

Aircraft arriving from the north via the Balkans usually begin to descend over Montenegro and can land without major course correction. In some cases, however, they also fly via the airport to almost Shkumbin and then land from the south.

Airplanes coming from the west of Italy usually fly over the Albanian coast a little south of Durrës and land after a left turn either directly from the south or fly northwards almost to Lezha , and then after another bend to begin the approach from the north.

Web links

Commons : Tirana Airport  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Facts and Figures about Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza. In: Tirana International Airport SHPK. Retrieved February 24, 2019 .
  2. ^ The Center for Defense Analyzes (CDA) of the Albanian Training and Doctrine Command, Tirana, December 2011, 89
  3. ^ Johannes Kneifel: Airlines and air traffic systems of the socialist states. Nördlingen 1980. p. 90.
  4. ^ History of the Airport. Tirana Airport, accessed on September 23, 2016 (English).
  5. ^ Kai D. Eichstädt: Mao's excursion to the west. In: time online. April 20, 1973. Retrieved January 4, 2017 .
  6. ^ Benjamin S. Lambeth: NATO's Air War for Kosovo: A Strategic and Operational Assessment . Rand Corporation, Santa Monica / Arlington / Pittsburgh 2001, ISBN 978-0-8330-3237-9 , pp. 66/5 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  7. ^ Anthony Depalma: Crisis in the Balkans: in Albania; At an Outdated Airstrip, NATO Builds Up . In: The New York Times . April 13, 1999, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed October 14, 2016]).
  8. ^ Message on albanien.ch of September 16, 2004. Accessed on September 11, 2009 .
  9. ^ Jochen Blanken: Tirana Airport: Concession to Tirana Airport Partners (HOCHTIEF AirPort) . In: Albanian notebooks . No. 2 , 2005, p. 16 f . ( PDF [accessed January 4, 2017]).
  10. ^ Tirana International Airport, Albania A project by HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH
  11. ↑ HOCHTIEF Airport division: Value of the airport portfolio significantly increased ( Memento of the original dated August 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / berichte.hochtief.de
  12. ↑ Tirana International Airport opts for ELWIS cargo handling solution. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 2, 2014 ; Retrieved September 7, 2012 .
  13. ↑ Joe Bates discovers more about one of Europe's most modern and fastest growing gateways - Tirana International Airport. Retrieved September 7, 2012 .
  14. ↑ a b Tirana International Airport records further impressive growth during 2010 - Press release from Tirana Airport dated February 3, 2011. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 20, 2012 ; Retrieved March 20, 2011 .
  15. ↑ Besar Likmeta: Albania's Main Airport Registers Growth in 2010. Tirana's Mother Theresa International Airport, TIA, registered a 10.2 per cent growth in passengers in 2010, while the amount of cargo hauled grew by 4.4 per cent. Balkaninsight.com, February 3, 2011, accessed March 19, 2011 .
  16. ↑ Tirana International Airport experienced moderation in passenger numbers in 2012. Media release. In: Tirana International Airport. January 31, 2013, accessed December 2, 2014 .
  17. ↑ Tirana International Airport experienced positive growth in passenger numbers in 2013. Media release. In: Tirana International Airport. April 8, 2014, accessed December 2, 2014 .
  18. ^ Government of Albania and Tirana International Airport sign the agreement to liberalize international flights. Press release. In: Tirana Airport. April 1, 2016, accessed April 1, 2016 .
  19. ↑ China Everbright Limited Acquires Tirana International Airport. Press release. (No longer available online.) In: China Everbright Limited. April 25, 2016, formerly in the original ; accessed on April 30, 2016 (English).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.everbright165.com.hk  
  20. ^ AP: Albania's airport sold to a Hong Kong-based joint venture. In: CNBC. April 26, 2016, accessed April 30, 2016 .
  21. ↑ China Everbright Limited acquires 100% of the shares in Tirana International Airport (TIA). Press release. In: Tirana International Airport. October 7, 2016, accessed October 12, 2016 .
  22. ↑ TIA hits 2,000,000 passengers milestone. Press release. In: Tirana International Airport. December 2, 2016, accessed December 17, 2016 .
  23. ^ Tirana International Airport records 12 per cent of impressive growth during 2018. In: Tirana International Airport. February 7, 2019, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  24. ^ Press release from Tirana Airport of September 9, 2009. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 20, 2012 ; Retrieved April 7, 2010 .
  25. ↑ Tower and air traffic control center are opened
  26. ^ Tender begins for Albania's most important rail project. In: Railway Pro. November 1, 2019, accessed December 8, 2019 .
  27. ↑ belleair.it - ​​Dear Passengers (message on the start page) ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Albanian, Italian, English) Retrieved November 25, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.belleair.it
  28. ^ Whiz Air Launches 5 New Low-Cost Connections from Tirana to Italy. In: Exit. January 13, 2020, accessed on January 13, 2020 .