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| Founded | 1991 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza | |||
| Fleet size | 8 | |||
| Destinations | 9 | |||
| Company slogan | The Spirit of Albania | |||
| Parent company | EVSEN Group of Companies | |||
| Headquarters | Tirana, Albania | |||
| Key people | ||||
| Website | http://www.albanianairlines.com.al/ | |||
Albanian Airlines MAK Sh. p.k. (trading as Albanian Airlines) is an airline based in Tirana, Albania. It operates scheduled international services. Its main hub is Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza.[1]
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History
The airline was established in May 1991 under the name of Arberia Airlines, and was the private airline of politicians for communist Albania. It was later renamed Albanian Airlines in May 1992 and started open operations to the public on 20 June 1995. It was formed as a joint venture between the Albanian state-owned Albtransport and Tyrolean Airways of Austria flying a single Austrian registered, De Havilland Canada Dash 8-102 - Manufacturer Serial Number 243 (OE-LLI). The aircraft were originally flown and maintained by Canadian pilots and mechanics under Austrian licences. Tyrolean opted out of the relationship in 1997, taking back the single Dash 8.
Albanian Airlines was privatized in the same year and sold to Kuwaiti-based M.A. Kharafi & Sons Group. As a result, it was restructured in 1997 when its operations were based on a single Airbus A320 - 231 aircraft leased from Shorouk Air of Egypt. By 2001 it operated a fleet of 4 Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft on scheduled services from Tirana to Bologna, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Pristina, Rome and Zürich. In July 2001 Albanian Airlines started upgrading its fleet by gradually removing its Tupolev aircraft and acquired its first BAe 146. Two more BAe 146 were added in 2003 and 2004. This upgrading process allowed the company to expand to new strategic markets such as Belgium and Germany.
On August 14, 2009, it was announced that Albanian Airlines had been sold to Azerbaijan-based Evsen Group of Companies. [2] With this investment came a new logo, addition of destinations, and an addition of aircraft to the existing fleet. Proposed addition of aircraft are two Boeing 737, leased from Air Slovakia, a Boeing 747 from Eagle Aviation France, as well as two Boeing 757, leased from Air Slovakia and Eagle Aviation France. Under the agreement, 93% of capital of the airline will belong to Mr. Ali Evsen and 7% Advanced Construction Group (ACG) Sh.p.k of Albania.
On October 9th, it was announced that Albanian Airlines will soon open new destinations to Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Rome, Athens, Jedahh, Beijing, and later United States of America along with lower rates of travel along with the addition of more Fokker 100, and scheduled use of the Boeing 747.
November 2009 saw the use of the first of two leased Boeing 737s with flights to London Stansted Airport.[3]
Destinations
Albanian Airlines operates the following scheduled international services (as of November 2009)[4]
Fleet
The Albanian Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of December 2009) [5]:
- 1 × BAe 146-100 (Leased to JetLink Express)
- 1 × BAe 146-200
- 1 × BAe 146-300
- 2 × Boeing 737-300 (Leased)
- 1 × Boeing 747-400 (Leased)
- 2 × Boeing 757-200 (Leased)
References
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 72. 2007-03-27.
- ^ http://www.albanianair.com/Albanianair.com/news.html
- ^ Boeing 737 at Stansted
- ^ AlbanianAirlines. "Albanian Airlines Destinations". http://www.albanianair.com/Destinations.html. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ^ Amateur fleet list
External links
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