New air traffic control tower under construction in “Mother Theresa” International Airport

TIRANA, August 30 – The National Air Traffic Agency (NATA) and its control tower are having their buildings reconstructed under a euro 12 million investment in an effort to increase the agency’s infrastructural and human capacities.
Speaking during a recent visit to the agency’s facilities at the Tirana International Airport, Transport Minister Sokol Olldashi said the NATA investment under “the modernization of Albanian air space” project will give the agency the necessary working conditions considering the fast growth of air transport.
“The number of passengers has doubled since 2005. We found it at 730,000 and now the number is 1.4 million,” said Olldashi, referring to the annual number of passengers traveling through the airport during the past 5 years.
The reconstruction of facilities is expected to make the agency handle double its current capacity.
According to the Transport Ministry, the number of take-offs and landings in the country’s only airport has doubled since 2005. The number of transit flights has also increased by 40 percent.
Petrit Sulaj, the agency’s director, said the modern air traffic control tower meets international security standards, considering it as one of the best in the Balkans.
No deadline was given for the conclusion of works which started two weeks ago.
Since April 2005, the airport has been managed by TIA, a consortium owned by HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH (HTA), one of the leading private airport investors in the world, which won a 20-year concession to be in charge of the airport’s activities.
Official figures released by Tirana International Airport (TIA) show that 644,914 passengers traveled through the Airport in the first six months of the year, a 9.8 per cent increase over the same period last year. The Airport also recorded 9,360 air traffic movements (ATMs) and handled 921 tons of cargo. These figures represent an increase in ATMs of 2.7 per cent and in cargo figures 1.6 per cent.
During the first six months of 2010, the airlines carrying most passengers to and from Tirana were Belleair (44%), Alitalia (12%), Albanian Airlines (8%), Austrian Airlines (6%) and Turkish Airlines (5.3%). Currently, 14 airlines fly in to and out of TIA, including here the new airline ItAli Airlines, – all of which connect directly the Albanian capital city with 34 destinations.
The sustained growth not only reflects the attraction of Albania as a business and a leisure destination, but also the high service and European standards offered by Tirana International Airport.