The Tirana International Airport reported a 5.5 percent increase in passenger numbers in 2013, assuring that the current year is following this trend despite the bankruptcy of the main local carrier BelleAir.
TIRANA, April 14 – Passenger numbers at Albania’s only international airport registered a turning point in 2013 when they overcame the moderate shrink in 2012, but aircraft movement and cargo traffic continued remaining at negative growth rates.
The Tirana International Airport, which since 2005 has been managed by a private consortium under a 20-year concession contract, reported a 5.5 percent increase in passenger numbers in 2013 and assured that the current year is following this trend despite the bankruptcy of the main local carrier BelleAir.
The figures are not so striking in terms of Aircraft Traffic Movements (ATM) which were down by 2.9 percent and cargo statistics, which fell by 4.2 percent compared to 2012.
In 2013, the airlines carrying most passengers to and from Tirana were Belle Air (46.7 percent), Air One (10.9 percent) Alitalia (9 percent), Austrian Airlines (8.2 percent) and Turkish Airlines (6.9 percent). Currently, 13 airlines fly in to and out of TIA, connecting the Albanian capital directly with 20 destinations.
After the collapse of BelleAir, three airlines have been added to the list of carriers operating at the Airport – Blue Panorama, Livingston and Meridiana Airlines – all of which have Italy as their main destinations.
Starting April 2014, a new direct route linking Tirana to Frankfurt has been launched. The route is scheduled for throughout the year, with four return flights a week.
In 2012, for the first time during its eight years of concession, the Tirana International Airport (TIA) registered an 8.4 shrink in passenger numbers affected by global crisis impacts.
TIA registered its best performance in 2011 boosted by lift of the visa regime to Schengen area.
High airport tariffs, a burden for lower tickets
While several new airlines have entered Albania after the bankruptcy of Belle Air in late 2013, ticket prices to European destinations remain high for a country such as Albania where GDP per capita is among the lowest in the region. The bankruptcy of Belle Air, which had a market share of around 50 percent and was considered a monopoly, temporarily lowered ticket prices especially because of the entrance of new carriers targeting to gain market shares. However, tickets to European destinations, mainly Italy, where most Albanians travel, are back to their previous levels ranging from 100 to 150 Euros for a single ticket.
Experts and airline carriers blame the situation on the high tariffs charged by the Tirana International Airport (TIA) concessionaire, which has been in charge of the airport since April 2005 under a 20-year concession contract.
The tariffs are considerably higher compared to regional countries and even some EU countries.
With ten years having already operated TIA, the concessionaire retains the exclusiveness of international flights in Albania which is barrier for the opening of new airports in Albania.
When compared to regional airports in Macedonia, Kosovo, and even Slovenia, aircraft charges at the Tirana International Airport are considerably higher. Charges on landing and take-off, base ground handling, cargo handling and parking and lighting stand considerably higher.
The situation has led to more and more Albanians choosing the Prishtina international airport in neighbouring Kosovo for European destinations over considerably lower tickers. “Tickets for flights from the Mother Teresa Airport in Tirana are 50 percent to 100 percent more expensive than flights from the Prishtina,” say Kosovo media.
Since April 2005, the airport has been managed by TIA, a consortium led by Germany’s Hochtief AirPort GmbH (HTA), one of the leading private airport investors in the world, which has won a 20-year concession to be in charge of the airport’s activities.
However, in May 2013, Germany’s Hochtief, which has majority stakes in leading airports in five countries, including Albania’s Tirana International Airport (TIA) sold its shares to Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) for Euro 1.5 billion.
Albania’s Competition Authority says the acquisition of the 47 percent stake held by Germany’s “Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft” in the Tirana International Airport by Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board was in full compliance of Albanian competition laws.
