TIRANA, June.12- Albanians can now fly directly to the United States with the establishment of non-stop flights from Tirana to New York City. The American companies, Adriatic Eagle Air and American Trans Air, announced that they are starting weekly flights to New York City and flights from New York to Tirana with air carriers having a capacity of 317 seats. The flight starts in New York on Saturday and arrives in Tirana on Sunday while the return flight departs Tirana on Monday and arrives Tuesday.
A direct flight will also connect New York to Prishtina, with departures from Kosovo on Wednesdays. The price of a one-way ticket will be 469 euros and a round trip ticket is priced at 795 euros.
The companies are testing the market during peak season, June through September, and if they see a demand for this route, will begin operating additional flights.
Air travel data
Data from the International Mother Teresa Airport confirms that the number of passengers going through the airport is on a steady increase. During 2006, a 15 percent rise in passenger traffic was recorded, while the number of flight also increased by 2.5 percent. Experts calculate annual total revenues in Albanian air travel to be around 200 million euro.
The market and the infrastructure improvements recently performed have attracted international companies to launch services to Albania. British Airways and Lufthansa are already serving this market and will now be joined by the American Adriatic Eagle Air and American Trans Air. Officials note that the main impediment to expanded air travel is the notorious difficulty for Albanians in obtaining visas.
