Prime Minister Edi Rama and Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku closely inspected on Monday the works at the construction site of the new international airport that is being built near the southern coastal city of Vlora.

The project for the new airport is being implemented on several fronts, on the runway, as well as the construction of the 20,000 square meter terminal, the operation tower, the fire brigade building, the construction of connecting roads, and the entire infrastructure of the airport field.

"We are already in an advanced phase of the works. On the right is the control tower, which has started construction. Across the tower is the fire department building. This airport will be category 4E, one of the highest in the Balkans," said Balluku.

"We are now breaking ground on the new terminal. The terminal with an area of 20,000 square meters. From the engineering point of view, it was a complicated job, since the area is 2 meters below the water level. But every element has been solved. On the engineering side, the solution was given through the drainage channel. The runway is 2.5 meters above sea level and the airport as a whole is 4 meters above sea level. This airport will also have an innovation, which we have said several times, but which is becoming more visible: The entire airport will be covered with solar panels. They will be placed so that problems do not arise with the landing and takeoff of planes. These will produce 5.2 MWH of renewable energy, which will be for the needs of the airport," said Balluku.

The Deputy PM also said that the power distribution operation OSHE is addressing the request for two power lines, a mainline, and a backup line for operations here. “The water supply is also being processed. It is expected to be secured by the end of December, and in early 2024 work will begin on the water supply network. Then, together with the Munich airport, the certification work begins, as this procedure starts 1 year before the end of the work at the airport. We have no delays in any of the points. Building an airport from scratch does not happen in Europe in recent years, reconstruction usually happens. In the first year, according to the contract, 330 thousand passengers are expected, while with everything we are seeing today, also due to the political developments that are happening today in Albania, in the first year we have higher expectations than in the contract, where only in Vlora will have over 1 million passengers, from March 2025 to December. We will close all the works in December 2024,” Balluku noted.

She also presented two innovations for Vlora Airport. "Today we have closed the academic part of the air traffic controllers, who are in the part of filling the training hours. During the winter it is more difficult, but during the summer it will be done a little faster. At the end of summer 2024, they will be certified and ready for operation. This airport will have two new sectors, aircraft maintenance, within the next week a new consultation of the consortium, one of the largest in Italy. They want space to exercise their activity. As well as the academy, which is expected to start work. It will start in September 2024 at the latest. There are many possibilities for the academy to start in Vlora," said Balluku.