Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza

Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza (Template:Langx, Template:Airport codes), 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 honor of the Albanian Roman Catholic nun and missionary, Mother Teresa (1910–1997). It is located Template:Convert northwest of Tirana, in the municipality of Krujë, Durrës County.<ref name="The_World">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="tirana-airport.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The airport serves as the hub for Wizz Air and the country's flag carrier Air Albania.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is the largest airport in Albania and is one of the busiest Balkan airports after reaching 10 million passengers in 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 9 December 2024, the airport celebrated a major milestone by surpassing 10 million passengers.

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 began 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 Gjirokastër.<ref name="Elsie">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1938, the Yugoslav carrier Aeroput introduced regular commercial flights linking Tirana with Belgrade, Serbia, with a landing in Dubrovnik, Croatia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

After the Second World War and installation of an isolationist communist regime in Albania, air transportation was rare. From 1944 to 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.<ref name="Elsie" /> From 1953 to 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.<ref name="Elsie" />

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.<ref name="Elsie" />

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The expansion resulted in an increased number of passengers per annum, estimated at 1.5 million passengers for 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The number of passengers effectively increased to more than 1.5 million in 2010.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In December 2016, the airport announced that it served 2 million passengers during 2016, reaching its second milestone.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The airport announced over 7.2 million passengers for 2023, exceeding their projections predictions for that year. This statistics marks a substantial increase of 40% compared to the previous year (2022) and 117% compared to the year 2019, solidifying TIA's position as a key player in the regional aviation industry.

On 9 December 2024, TIA reached a significant milestone, exceeding 10 million passengers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 operation of Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza to China Everbright Limited,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a company specializing in asset management, direct investment, brokerage and investment banking.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 25 December 2020, Kastrati Group bought all the shares of the airport from China Everbright Limited for 71 million euros.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Airlines and destinations

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

Statistics

Traffic

Year	Passengers	Change	Aircraft operations	Change	Cargo Template:Small	Change	Template:Abbr
2005	785,000	Template:Increase20.77%	15,400	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2006	906,103	Template:Increase15.43%	15,856	Template:Increase 2.96%	2,435	N.A.	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2007	1,105,770	Template:Nowrap	18,258	Template:Nowrap	3,832	Template:Nowrap	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2008	1,267,041	Template:Increase14.58%	19,194	Template:Increase 5.13%	2,497	Template:Decrease34.84%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2009	1,394,688	Template:Increase10.07%	20,064	Template:Increase 4.53%	2,265	Template:Decrease 9.29%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2010	1,536,822	Template:Increase10.19%	20,768	Template:Increase 3.51%	2,355	Template:Increase 3.97%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2011	1,817,073	Template:Increase18.24%	22,988	Template:Increase10.69%	2,656	Template:Increase12.78%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2012	1,665,331	Template:Decrease 8.35%	20,528	Template:Decrease10.70%	1,875	Template:Decrease29.41%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2013	1,757,342	Template:Increase 5.53%	19,942	Template:Decrease 2.85%	2,164	Template:Increase15.41%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2014	1,810,305	Template:Increase 3.02%	17,928	Template:Decrease 3.02%	2,324	Template:Increase13.53%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2015	1,997,044	Template:Increase 10.3%	20,876	Template:Increase 16.4%	2,229	Template:Decrease4.1%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2016	2,195,100	Template:Increase 9.9%	22,352	Template:Increase 7.1%	2,200	Template:Decrease1%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2017	2,630,338	Template:Increase 19.8%	24,336	Template:Increase 9%	2,266	Template:Increase3%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2018	2,947,172	Template:Increase 12%	25,462	Template:Increase 3%	2,245	Template:Decrease 0.9%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2019	3,338,147	Template:Increase 13.3%	28,695	Template:Increase 12.5%	2,372	Template:Increase 5.7%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2020	1,310,614	Template:Decrease 60,7%	15,280	Template:Decrease 46,8%	1,796.8	Template:Decrease 24.3%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2021	2,923,533	Template:Increase 123.1%	26,152	Template:Increase 73%	1,983	Template:Increase 10.4%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2022	5,198,550	Template:Increase 77.8%	38,517	Template:Increase 47.3%	2,045	Template:Increase 3.1%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2023	7,257,662	Template:Increase 39.6%	51,050	Template:Increase 32.5%	1,953	Template:Decrease 4.5%	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2024	10,708,975	Template:Increase 48%	68,346	Template:Increase 35%	2,257	Template:Increase 18%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
2025 (30.06)	5,135,535	Template:Increase 7%	31,654	Template:Increase 1%	1,349	Template:Increase 27%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Busiest routes

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Rank	Destination	Airport(s)	Number of passengers	Top carriers
1	Template:Flagicon Milan	BGY, MXP	1,071,925	Air Albania, Ryanair, Wizz Air
2	Template:Flagicon London	LGW, LHR, LTN, STN	838,073	British Airways, Ryanair, Wizz Air
3	Template:Flagicon Rome	CIA, FCO	606,906	ITA Airways, Ryanair, Wizz Air
4	Template:Flagicon Bologna	BLQ	476,009	Ryanair, Wizz Air
5	Template:Flagicon Treviso	TSF	440,426	Ryanair, Wizz Air
6	Template:Flagicon Pisa	PSA	426,476	Ryanair, Wizz Air
7	Template:Flagicon Istanbul	IST, SAW	407,968	Air Albania, Pegasus Airlines
8	Template:Flagicon Vienna	VIE	395,013	Austrian Airlines, Ryanair, Wizz Air
9	Template:Flagicon Brussels	BRU, CRL	348,534	Ryanair, TUI fly Belgium, Wizz Air
10	Template:Flagicon Bari	BRI	345,320	Ryanair, Wizz Air

Highest number of passengers by country (2024)<ref name=routereport/>

Rank	Destination	Number of passengers
1	Template:Flagicon Italy	4,545,560
2	Template:Flagicon Germany	1,117,942
3	Template:Flagicon United Kingdom	965,361
4	Template:Flagicon Turkey	561,826
5	Template:Flagicon Poland	519,608
6	Template:Flagicon France	490,241
7	Template:Flagicon Austria	395,013
8	Template:Flagicon Belgium	348,534
9	Template:Flagicon Greece	313,077
10	Template:Flagicon Spain	280,229

Top carriers

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Rank	Carrier	Market share
1	Template:Flagicon Wizz Air	54.84%
2	Template:Flagicon Ryanair	22.23%
3	Template:Flagicon Air Albania	3.42%
4	Template:Flagicon Lufthansa	2.84%
5	Template:Flagicon Austrian Airlines	2.10%

Ground transport

Taxi rank at the airport

SH60 linking Tirana Airport with SH2 Tirana-Durrës Highway

Since 2024, the airport is linked with highway A1 Template:Convert away to SH2 Durrës–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 the arrivals terminal, provides an hourly service that is available 24 hour a day and 7 days a week to/from city centre.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Rail

A new electrified light rail train line between Tirana and Durrës, including a link to the airport, is planned to open in early 2027.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• 9 April 2019: An Austrian Airlines flight headed to Vienna was delayed for three 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Transport in Albania
• List of airports in Albania
  • Kukës International Airport Zayed
  • Vlora International Airport

External links

• Official website
• Template:ASN