Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza

Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza (IATA: TIA, ICAO: LATI) (Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës Nënë Tereza) is Albania's only international airport. It is commonly known as Rinas International Airport, as it is located 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) northwest^[1] of Tirana, in the village of Rinas. In 2001, the airport was named after Mother Teresa. Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza was constructed in a period of two years, from 1955 to 1957.

After the fall of communism political and social changes caused an increase in the number of airlines operating in the airport. Notably its reconstruction, started in 2005 and terminated in 2008, made possible a relevant increase in the processing capacity of the airport, which saw its number of passengers per year doubling from 2005 to 2010, when it reached 1.5M. The airport currently has a capacity to process 1.8M passengers per year and it is thought that such capacity will suffice to handle the expected increase given the visa liberalization for the citizens of Albania in the Schengen Area, which started at the end of 2010.^[2]

Facilities

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 April 23, 2005, for a 20-year concession period.^[3]

The concession included the construction of a completely new passenger terminal and various infrastructure improvements, that included the construction of a new access road, new parking lots, and a bridge on the old airport access road.^[4] The expansion resulted in an increased number of passengers per annum, estimated in 1.5M passengers for 2009.^[5][6] The number of passengers effectively increased to more than 1.5M in 2010.^[7]

Number of passengers

The Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza has the following amount of passengers:

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled airlines

Charter airlines

The following airlines operate charter flights at Tirana International Airport (as of April 2011)^[8]

Cargo airlines

Passenger commodities

Internet service through WiFi connections is available free of charge to customers of Tirana International Airport and car rentals are available to visitors next to the exit at the Arrival Area. Rinas Express operates an hourly bus shuttle between 6:00am and 6:00pm from the airport to Skanderberg Square and viceversa. The bus costs 250 lek. A taxi service is also available from ATEx shpk and costs around 2000 lek (17 EUR).

Shops, and boutiques in Tirana's international airport include:

• AA&A Catering; located in arrival area/check-in hall, providing international coffee.
• ADF; a duty free shop located in the departure area.
• Adrion; providing books, newspapers, magazines, souvenirs, and located in departure area.
• Coli's; a cafe bar located in the departure area. The only place to purchase water (Tepelene) after security for consumption on the flight. Also the only place in the airport that sells decaffeinated coffee.
• Gjikondi; providing jewelry and watches located in departure area.
• Le Charm; providing handbags/bags and accessories, located in the check-in hall.
• Nino Vitali; providing many brands including Lacoste, Gant, Timberland, and Calvin Klein located in departure area.
• P.A.B.; providing Samsonite products, located in departure area.
• Piazza; a Piazza Bar & Restaurant located in arrival area.
• R & T Group, providing electronics, and Vodafone products, located in the check-in hall.

Owners

The following companies are owner of the Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza^[10]:

• 47% Hochtief Airport
• 31.7% German Investment Corporation
• 21.3% Albanian-American Enterprise Fund

Panorama

References

External links

• Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza
• Map of the airport
• Year numbers of airport
• Aerial photo of Rinas Mother Teresa Airport
• Current weather for LATI at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for TIA at Aviation Safety Network