Tirana airport passenger numbers rise 65% y/y in H1

In June alone, the number of passengers increased 61.6% yer-on-year, reaching 1,067,405, marking the first time ever the airport in the Albanian capital has surpassed the 1 million passenger mark, TIA said in a press release.

The range of routes operated at the airport has significantly expanded to include direct connections to European and more distant locations, such as France’s Nice, Greece’s Rhodes and Heraklion, Spain’s Barcelona and Valencia in Spain, Romania’s Bucharest, Turkey’s Bodrum, Antalya and Istanbul, and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Growth was supported by recent investment in airport infrastructure, terminal expansion and security systems by TIA’s sole owner, oil-to-construction conglomerate Kastrati Group, the airport’s chief operating offices Piervittio Farabbi noted in the press release.

Kastrati has increased its planned investment in Tirana airport by 40% from its original commitment to 140 million euro ($150.98 million) by 2040, Farabbi told local media in February. Part of the new investment plan is an airstrip for transcontinental airlines.

Foreign tourist arrivals to Albania reached 3.3 million in the January-May period, a 38% increase year-on-year, the tourism ministry said in a data release earlier this month.

In 2023, Tirana airport served 7.26 million passengers, 40% more than a year earlier.

($ = 0.927 euro)