Tirana-Frankfurt direct route launched

TIRANA, May 19 – The Tirana International Airport has announced the launch of a new direct route between Tirana and Frankfurt. The four-times-a-week service offered by Slovenian carrier Adria Airways will operate on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Albania’s sole international airport said in a statement.
“When it comes to the launch of a new route from Tirana International Airport, we all feel particularly proud because of the great changes in air travel that we have witnessed over the last few years in Albania,” said Rolf Castro-Vasquez, the chief executive officer of TIA.
Officials from Albania’s civil aviation authority, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Adria Airways and Slovenia’s civil aviation authority participated in the ceremony marking the new route.
“I am very pleased that we have introduced this service and I believe that we will satisfy the traveling needs of both German and Albanian citizens,” said Mark Anzur, Adria Airways President and CEO.
The new route along with the recent start of operations by other airlines brings the total number of foreign destinations reached by direct flight to 18 and the number of airlines operating in Albania to thirteen.
Adria Airways will operate an Airbus 319 with a capacity of 135 seats on the new route to Frankfurt which will take two hours.
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. 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.
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.