TIRANA, Feb. 16 – Russia’s main air carrier for leisure travel, Nordwind Airlines, says it will start operating direct flights from Moscow to Tirana on April 30.
Nordwind says it will operate two weekly flights to Tirana, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, according to a statement issued last week.
The Russian carrier already services North Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia in the region.
Nordwind service would be the first direct scheduled flights between Albania and Russia since the 1960s.
Established in 2008 by Russian and Turkish package holiday agencies, the company is headquartered at Sheremetyevo International Airport. It primarily operates service between airports in Russia and holiday destinations around the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.
NATO member Albania and Russia have minimal political and economic cooperation, especially in recent times in which Albania joined EU sanctions on Russia, but Nordwind is likely counting on Russian holiday makers looking for some sun and sand going south and Albanian tourists wanting to see Russian cities going north.
Albania has seen a major influx of tourists from central and eastern Europe in recent years, with charter flights from Poland, the Baltic states, Belarus and Ukraine already making direct flights into Albania with package tourists on board.
The same trend has seen new direct services with EU member Poland scheduled where there were none before, allowing Warsaw to turn into a new transit point for Albanians traveling in Europe and across the Atlantic with Polish national carrier Lot
