The year 2026 is marking a new record in terms of civil aviation, reaching previously unrecorded figures. The summer tourist season is a period marked by a high volume of flights and passengers.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Enea Karakaçi, was on Monday at Albcontrol, where he was introduced by Director Dritan Isaku, to the entire process being carried out to manage the flow of flights, as well as the measures taken to ensure a smooth and problem-free process.

Isaku announced that from January to July, around 242 thousand flights have been processed, 11% more compared to last year, while all measures have been taken, including increasing staff, to respond to the increasing flow.

“In the last two or three years, due to the increase in traffic at Tirana Airport, this sector has had an increased load. We have also taken measures to increase staff to cope with the season and to cope with all situations, whether unusual or emergency, which may occur, but for the moment, we have not had any problems,” said Isaku.

Currently, Tirana International Airport (TIA) is classified as the airport with the highest load in the Balkans.

Minister Karakaçi said that year after year, Albania is recording record figures in terms of civil aviation, which in turn is responding to all this flow in a more orderly manner, without causing any delays in the processing of passengers.

"We continue to increase air traffic again. Year after year, we have growth. Even this year, compared to 2025, both for the category of take-offs from Tirana airport and for traffic crossing the Albanian border, we have a double-digit increase. And it is also very evident, in fact, which should be emphasized, that the very good work of the management of Tirana airport, since in these 6 months, we have the official figures, we have had several passengers, almost over 17% landed at Tirana airport, about 6 million and compared to 2025, we have about 900 thousand more passengers. Confirmation of the growth trend of airport management, but also what is evident throughout Albania, of the increasing flow of tourists and the good management that is done at Tirana airport", said Karakaçi.

All the figures, added the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, prove once again that Albania has now entered a new phase of development. “We are continuing to grow year after year in the civil aviation industry. And this is very clearly due to the policies of the Albanian Government in civil aviation that have made it possible to diversify operators and air traffic routes, thus creating better tourism opportunities, but also opportunities for better economic connections between countries, as airlines intensify relations between countries”, underlined Krakaçi.

An important element is also the increase in the number of destinations that have brought tourists and visitors from many countries of the world, who now have the opportunity to access our country through direct flight routes.