Blerim Parllaku

Tirana International Airport

Facing the need for further development of the airport, in 2003 the Council of Ministers decided to tender for international investors to construct a new terminal and other facilities, as well as run the operations, at the airport. The tender was closed in 2004 with the signing of the Concession Agreement for Tirana International Airport and on April 23rd, 2005, Tirana International Airport SHPK (TIA, a consortium comprising HOCHTIEF AirPort, DEG Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund) started operations at the airport now known as Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza. In 2005, the airport handled about 600,000 passengers. In 2019, TIA handled a record number of 3,33 million passengers. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, in 2020, the traffic was reduced to ca. 1.3 million passengers. TIA has exceeded the 2019 passengers number in August 2022. Up to date TIA marks 4.2 million passengers and it is forecasted that by the end of 2022 TIA will reach 5 million passengers. As of December 18, 2020 Kastrati Group SHA, a leading private company based in Albania, established in 1990, owns 100% of the share capital of Tirana International Airport. As of March 2021 the Concession Period is extended to 2040 in which, Kastrati Group is foreseen to invest 100 million €.