TIRANA, Sept. 8 – The number of passengers handled in Durres Port to and from Italy last August during the peak of the tourist season rose by 5 percent to 246,000, port authorities say.
Data show the number of passengers mostly, Albanian migrants in Italy, rose by 12,264 compared to August 2014 despite the ferry lines to the Italian ports of Bari, Ancona and Trieste cutting their number of trips by 50. The Durres port also handled some 56,000 personal vehicles.
In addition to airlines, more and more Albanian migrants in Italy are also traveling to Albania on their own cars through Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro as a cheaper alternative.
The Durres Port Authority, which is the key hub for Albania’s exports and imports, says it handled 3.7 million tonnes of goods in 2014, up only 3 percent compared to 2013, reflecting the slowdown of Albania’s exports last year.
Passenger numbers to and from Durres Port rose by 8 percent to around 775,000 in 2014.
The Durres Port, Albania’s largest, targets becoming a regional hub for landlocked Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. It has representation offices in Kosovo and Macedonia.
Key operations in Durres port such as the container and ferry terminals are managed by foreign companies under concession contracts.
