avia.wikisort.org - Aerodrome

Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza (Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës Nënë Tereza, IATA: TIA, ICAO: LATI), often referred to as the Rinas International Airport, is one of the two main international airports of the Republic of Albania. It serves the city of Tirana, its metropolitan area, and surrounding region in the county of Tirana. The airport is named in honour of the Albanian Roman Catholic nun and missionary, Mother Teresa (1910–1997). It is located 6 nautical miles (11 kilometres; 6.9 miles) northwest of Tirana, in the municipality of Krujë, Durrës County.[5][6] It offers international connections primarily within Europe, with the most frequent routes to Milan, Rome, London and Istanbul.

Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës Nënë Tereza
IATA: TIA ICAO: LATI
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	Tirana International Airport SHPK and Kastrati Group[1]
Serves	Tirana, Tirana County, Albania
Location	Rinas, Durrës County, Albania
Hub for	Air Albania Albawings Wizz Air
Elevation AMSL	108 ft / 33 m
Coordinates	41°24′53″N 19°43′14″E
Website	tirana-airport.com
Map
TIA Location in Albania Show map of Albania TIA Location in the Mediterranean Show map of Mediterranean TIA Location in Europe Show map of Europe
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 17/35 2,750 9,022 Asphalt
Statistics (2021)
Passengers 2,923,553[2] Passenger change 20–21 123.1% Aircraft movements 26,152[2] Movements change 20–21 73%
Source: Albanian AIP at EUROCONTROL[3] LATI Airport record[4]

The airport serves as the main hub for the country's flag carrier, Air Albania, and also for both Albawings and Wizz Air.[7] The airport offers regularly scheduled passenger services, it is the largest and busiest airport in Albania and the seventh busiest Balkan airport. Albania's other main airport is Kukës International Airport located in the northeast of the country.

History

Early development

The airport was constructed from 1955 to 1957. Tirana had commercial airline services before. Domestic aviation started in 1926 when German airline Adria-Aero-Lloyd obtained a monopoly for domestic air routes in the country and begin servicing Tirana, Shkodër, Korçë and Vlorë. These operations proved unprofitable, and the airline sold its rights to Italian company Ala Littoria which opened regular routes in 1935 between Tirana to Shkodër, Kukës, Peshkopia, Kuçova, Vlorë, and Gjirokastra.[8] In 1938, the Yugoslav carrier Aeroput introduced regular commercial flights linking Tirana with Belgrade, Serbia with a landing in Dubrovnik, Croatia.[9]

After the Second World War and installation of an isolationist communist regime in Albania, air transportation was rare. From 1944 and 1948 there was a service to Belgrade, but after the break of relations with Yugoslavia, until 1953, there was only a twice-a-month connection to Budapest operated by Soviet-Hungarian company Maszovlet.[8] From 1953 and 1955 there was no air service, until February 1955 when a route to Moscow was inaugurated, followed thereafter to other Eastern-European capitals. In the 1970s, Tirana was one of the first European cities to be served by China's CAAC Airlines, with a weekly flight to Beijing via Bucharest and Tehran. In the late 1980s there were six airlines flying to Tirana, with a total of nine round-trips per week.[8]

With the collapse of communism in Albania in 1991 and subsequent liberalisation of travel restrictions abroad for Albanians, the number of airlines operating at the airport increased rapidly. In 1999 there were 8,249 flights and 356,823 passengers, seven times more than in 1991.[8]

Contemporary

The air traffic equipment and facilities of the airport have been heavily modernised, following investments by Tirana International Airport SHPK, a consortium led by Hochtief AirPort. Hochtief assumed management of the airport on 23 April 2005, for a 20-year concession period.[10]

The concession included the construction of a completely new passenger terminal and various infrastructure improvements, among them the construction of a new access road, new parking lots, and a bridge over the old airport access road.[11] The expansion resulted in an increased number of passengers per annum, estimated at 1.5 million passengers for 2009.[12][13] The number of passengers effectively increased to more than 1.5 million in 2010.[14]

The terminal building and its second expansion, the cargo building, its landscaping, and its carpark canopies were designed by Malaysian architect Hin Tan of Hintan.[15]

In December 2016, the Airport announced that it has served 2 million passengers during 2016, reaching its second milestone.[16]

Ownership

In 2017 China Everbright Limited became the sole owner of Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza. After reaching an agreement with the Albanian Government to end its monopoly on international flights from Albania, Hochtief AirPort sold the operating of Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza to China Everbright Limited,[17] a company specializing in asset management, direct investment, brokerage and investment banking.[18] On December 25, 2020, Kastrati Group bought all the shares of the airport from China Everbright Limited for 71 million euros.^{[citation needed]}

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular year-round and seasonal scheduled and charter flights to and from Tirana:

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Athens Seasonal: Heraklion
Air Albania[19][20][21]	Athens, Bergamo, Bologna, Istanbul, London–Stansted, Milan–Malpensa, Pisa, Rome–Fiumicino, Verona Seasonal: Antalya,[22] Düsseldorf
Air Cairo	Seasonal charter: Cairo, Hurghada,[23] Sharm El Sheikh[23]
Air France	Seasonal: Paris–Charles de Gaulle[24]
Air Serbia[25]	Belgrade
Albawings	Ancona, Bari, Bergamo, Bologna, Forlì,[26] Genoa, Milan–Malpensa, Perugia, Pisa, Venice, Verona Seasonal: London–Stansted
Austrian Airlines	Vienna
British Airways	London–Heathrow[27]
Buzz	Seasonal charter: Gdańsk,[28] Katowice,[29] Poznań,[28] Wrocław[28]
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum
easyJet	Geneva, London–Gatwick[30]
Enter Air	Seasonal charter: Katowice,[28] Poznań, Warsaw–Chopin,[31] Wrocław
Eurowings	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf,[32] Stuttgart[33]
flydubai	Dubai–International[34]
flynas	Seasonal: Jeddah,[35] Riyadh[36]
Freebird Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum
Gulf Air	Seasonal charter: Bahrain[37]
Israir Airlines	Seasonal: Tel Aviv (resumes 26 May 2023)[38]
ITA Airways	Rome–Fiumicino
LOT Polish Airlines[39]	Warsaw–Chopin Seasonal charter: Katowice
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich[40]
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Copenhagen,[41] Oslo
Pegasus Airlines	Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen Seasonal charter: Antalya[42]
Scandinavian Airlines	Seasonal charter: Copenhagen,[43] Oslo,[44] Stockholm–Arlanda[45]
SkyUp	Seasonal: Kharkiv,[46] Kyiv–Boryspil, Lviv,[46] Zaporizhzhia[46]
Smartwings	Seasonal: Prague Seasonal charter: Gdańsk, Katowice, Rzeszów, Vilnius, Warsaw–Chopin[47]
SunExpress	Seasonal charter: Antalya[42]
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich
Transavia	Seasonal: Paris–Orly
TUI fly Belgium	Brussels
Ukraine International Airlines	Seasonal: Kyiv–Boryspil Seasonal charter: Katowice,[48] Kraków[48]
Wizz Air[49]	Abu Dhabi,[50] Ancona,[51] Athens (begins 12 December 2022),[52] Barcelona,[53] Bari, Basel/Mulhouse, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin, Bologna, Budapest, Catania, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn,[53] Dammam (begins 17 April 2023),[54] Dortmund, Eindhoven, Friedrichshafen,[55] Genoa,[51] Hahn, Hamburg, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, London–Luton, Lyon,[56] Madrid,[57] Memmingen, Milan–Malpensa, Nice,[58] Nuremberg,[56] Perugia,[51] Pescara,[51] Pisa, Rimini, Rome–Fiumicino, Sandefjord,[59] Stockholm–Skavsta, Treviso, Turin, Verona, Vienna Seasonal: Katowice,[60] Malmö,[59] Warsaw–Chopin,[56] Wrocław[56]

Statistics

Traffic

Passenger, aircraft operations and cargo statistics at Nënë Tereza Airport

Year	Passengers	Change	Aircraft Operations	Change	Cargo (metric tons)	Change
2005	785,000	20.77%	15,400	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.
2006	906,103	15.43%	15,856	2.96%	2,435	N.A.
2007	1,105,770	22.04%	18,258	15.15%	3,832	57.37%
2008	1,267,041	14.58%	19,194	5.13%	2,497	34.84%
2009	1,394,688	10.07%	20,064	4.53%	2,265	9.29%
2010	1,536,822	10.19%	20,768	3.51%	2,355	3.97%
2011	1,817,073	18.24%	22,988	10.69%	2,656	12.78%
2012	1,665,331	8.35%	20,528	10.70%	1,875	29.41%
2013	1,757,342	5.53%	19,942	2.85%	2,164	15.41%
2014	1,810,305	3.02%	17,928	3.02%	2,324	13.53%
2015	1,997,044	10.3%	20,876	16.4%	2,229	4.1%[6]
2016	2,195,100	9.9%	22,352	7.1%	2,200	1%[61]
2017	2,630,338	19.8%	24,336	9%	2,266	3%[2]
2018	2,947,172	12%	25,462	3%	2,245	0.9%[62]
2019	3,338,147	13%	28,270	11%	2,372	5%[63]
2020	1,310,614	60,7%	15,280	46,8%	1,796.8	24.3%[64]
2021	2,923,533	123.1%	26,152	73%	1,983	10%[65]
(01.01-30.09) 2022	3,963,736	85.6%	29,810	55.4%	1,478.7	0.8%[66]

Busiest routes

Most frequent routes at Tirana Airport

Rank	Destination	Airport(s)	Number of Passengers 2021[65]	Top carriers
1	London	LGW, LHR, LTN, STN	223,145	Air Albania, Albawings, British Airways, easyJet, Wizz Air
2	Milan	MXP	219,551	Air Albania, Albawings, Wizz Air
3	Istanbul	IST, SAW	215,573	Air Albania, Pegasus Airlines
4	Bergamo	BGY	152,310	Air Albania, Albawings, Wizz Air
5	Bologna	BLQ	149,861	Air Albania, Albawings, Wizz Air
6	Rome	FCO	144,356	Air Albania, ITA Airways, Wizz Air
7	Vienna	VIE	142,328	Austrian Airlines, Wizz Air
8	Pisa	PSA	121,121	Air Albania, Albawings, Wizz Air
9	Frankfurt	FRA	120,948	Lufthansa
10	Verona	VRN	89,880	Air Albania, Albawings, Wizz Air

Top carriers

Rank	Carrier	Market share (2021[65])
1	Wizz Air	34%
2	Air Albania	18%
3	Albawings	9%
4	Pegasus Airlines	7%
5	Lufthansa	6%

Routes by country

Rank	Destination	Number of Passengers 2021[65]
1	Italy	1,184,800
2	Germany	384,296
3	Turkey	258,914
4	United Kingdom	224,508
5	Austria	142,328
6	Poland	142,170
7	Greece	97,891
8	Ukraine	71,542
9	Belgium	71,094
10	France	53,930

Ground transport

The airport is linked with motorway SH60 10 nautical miles (19 kilometres; 12 miles) away) to SH2 Durres -Tirana access road. Taxis and car rental facilities are available at the airport. The journey from Tirana to the airport takes 20–25 minutes.

Bus

An airport bus, located outside Arrivals terminal, leaves on the hour every hour (6am to 2am), to the city centre, and the trip takes around 30 minutes.[67] The shuttle runs an hourly service between the Airport and the back of the Opera building in the centre of Tirana.

Incidents and accidents

• 3 October 2006: Turkish Airlines Flight 1476, flying from Tirana to Istanbul, was hijacked by Hakan Ekinci in Greek airspace. The aircraft, with 107 passengers and six crew on board, transmitted two coded hijack signals which were picked up by the Greek air force; the flight was intercepted by military aircraft and landed safely at Brindisi, Italy.
• 30 June 2016: Three armed and masked people entered the cargo terminal, where they stole a huge amount of money that was to be transported abroad on airplanes. The amount of cash could have been up to 3 million euros. The incident caused national security concerns.[68][69]
• 9 April 2019: An Austrian Airlines flight headed to Vienna was delayed for 3 hours, following an armed robbery. The aircraft's engines were running, when three men wearing masks and military fatigues stepped up to the fuselage, stealing 6 million euros. One of the robbers was shot dead in an exchange of fire with the police about one kilometre from the airport.[70]

See also

• Transport in Albania
• Economy of Albania
• List of airports in Albania
• Kukës International Airport

References

External links

• tirana-airport.com – Official Website
• Accident history for TIA at Aviation Safety Network

На других языках

---

[de] Flughafen Tirana

Der Flughafen Tirana (Tirana International Airport „Nënë Tereza“) (albanisch für Mutter Teresa) ist einer von zwei internationalen Flughäfen Albaniens. Er liegt 17 Kilometer nordwestlich von Tirana beim Dorf Rinas, nach dem er früher benannt war. Gemessen an den Passagierzahlen ist er einer der größten Flughäfen in der Region und verzeichnet mehr Verkehr als Skopje, Pristina und Podgorica.

---

- [en] Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza

---

[es] Aeropuerto Internacional Madre Teresa

El Aeropuerto Internacional Madre Teresa (en albanés: Aeroporti Nënë Tereza) (IATA: TIA, OACI: LATI), también conocido como Aeropuerto Internacional de Tirana o como Aeropuerto Internacional de Rinas, debido a su ubicación a 25 km al noroeste de Tirana, en la villa de Rinas (en albanés: Rinasi) es el único aeropuerto internacional de Albania. El aeropuerto fue renombrado en 2001 en homenaje a la Madre Teresa, quien fue descendiente de albaneses.

---

[fr] Aéroport international de Tirana

L'aéroport international de Tirana (en albanais : Aeroporti Nënë Tereza) (code IATA : TIA • code OACI : LATI) est un aéroport domestique et international desservant la ville de Tirana, capitale et la plus peuplée des villes de l'Albanie. L'aéroport se trouve sur la commune de Rinas à 11 km au nord-ouest de Tirana et est le seul aéroport international en Albanie.

---

[it] Aeroporto di Tirana

L'aeroporto di Tirana (IATA: TIA, ICAO: LATI) è il più grande aeroporto internazionale dell'Albania. Situato a Rinas, è conosciuto internazionalmente con il nome commerciale di Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza essendo intitolato alla santa albanese Madre Teresa di Calcutta.

---

[ru] Тирана (аэропорт)

Международный аэропорт Тираны имени матери Терезы (алб. Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës Nënë Tereza), (ИАТА: TIA, ИКАО: LATI) — единственный в Албании международный гражданский аэропорт. Расположен в 11 километрах к северо-западу от столицы Тираны и известен также, как Международный аэропорт Ринас по названию находящейся поблизости деревни[1]

---

---