TIRANA, April 5 – Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air has launched its low-fare service reconnecting Tirana to Budapest after a five-year break following Malev’s 2012 bankruptcy.
“The new low-fare route, with a convenient schedule of two weekly frequencies, will bring truly affordable travel opportunities for Albanian passengers to discover Hungary’s magnificent capital, as well as other destinations across Europe, available on WIZZ’s low-fare network from Budapest,” the Tirana International Airport said in a statement.
In addition to increasing competition and reducing current ticket prices, estimated among the region’s highest, the direct flights are expected to give a boost to tourism and trade and investment ties in both countries, also serving Albanian passengers as a gateway to 29 countries with Wizz Air’s Budapest network.
Meanwhile, Dutch low-cost carrier Transavia, a subsidiary of Air France-KLM, will link Tirana to Amsterdam three times a week starting May 10.
Amsterdam is also among the top favorites for Albanian travellers while more and more Dutch tourists are discovering Albania.
Some 17 airlines connect Tirana to European destinations, mostly Italy where most passengers fly considering an estimated community of some 500,000 Albanian migrants in the neighbouring country across the Adriatic.
The Tirana International Airport handled a record high of 2.13 million passengers in 2016, up 8.2 percent compared to 2015, and more than double compared to 2005 when a German-led consortium obtained a 20-year concession contract to upgrade and manage the country’s sole international airport.
In October 2016, the airport was taken over by a Chinese consortium led by China Everbright Limited acquiring a 100 percent stake for an undisclosed amount that is estimated at €82 million.
