The airport of the Albanian capital Tirana will launch this month the construction of an airstrip dedicated to trans-Atlantic flights, as the first one is expected to take off by the first quarter of 2025, the director of the country's civil aviation authority, Maksim Et’hemaj, told local media.

The planned trans-Atlantic service will offer for the first time a direct connection between Tirana and New York City, Et’hemaj said last week in a televised interview with Vizion Plus. The new airstrip is planned to be built in collaboration with an unnamed US aviation team which will visit the site in the spring, Et’hemaj added.

He emphasized that the number of passengers through Tirana International Airport is expected to reach 8.4 million in 2024.

Et'hemaj also informed that within this month the work will start on the expansion of the runway at Rinas Airport, to enable transoceanic flights. In parallel with the works in March, a team from American aviation will be in Albania to certify the safety of the airport for such lines.

"We are moving in parallel in two directions. After a few days, we will start work on the intervention on the runway, which will not have an impact on daily flights. On the other hand, the technical side of the criteria will be certified by an American aviation team, which will arrive in the spring to see the conditions and criteria," Et'hemaj said.

Meanwhile, during this year, the airport expects that the number of passengers will reach 8.4 million. At the same time, the authorities anticipate that 4 new airlines will be added with at least 8 new destinations.

During the past two years, the airport of Tirana, operated by local conglomerate Kastrati Group, underwent several expansions to accommodate increasing tourist demand for Albanian flights.

In June, Tirana Airport added a second floor to its passenger terminal, which now houses shopping areas, restaurants, exhibitions, and book fairs. A multi-level parking lot is under construction.

In October, Tirana airport unveiled an expansion plan to accommodate the potential establishment of a dedicated base of Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair in the Albanian capital.

Albania attracted more than 10 million foreign tourists in 2023, a 35% rise compared to 2022, the tourism ministry said earlier. The airport of Tirana handled 7.26 million passengers in 2023, 40% more than a year earlier.