Albanian Airlines
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| Founded | 1991 | |||
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| Ceased operations | 2011 | |||
| Hubs | Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza | |||
| Fleet size | 4 | |||
| Destinations | 9 | |||
| Company slogan | The Spirit of Albania | |||
| Parent company | EVSEN Group of Companies | |||
| Headquarters | Tirana, Albania | |||
| Website | http://www.albanianair.com/ | |||
Albanian Airlines MAK Sh. p.k. (trading as Albanian Airlines) was an airline based in Tirana, Albania. It operated scheduled international services. Its main hub was Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza.[1] On 11 November 2011 Albania’s Civil Aviation Authority revoked the license of Albanian Airlines.[2][3][4]
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[edit] History
[edit] Formation
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 in mid 1992. 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), as part of a deal to allow Gernot Langes-Swarovski and Christian Schwemberger-Swarovski, the principles of Tyrolean Airways, to establish a crystal cutting facility in Albania for Swarovski crystal. The aircraft were originally flown and maintained by Canadian pilots and mechanics under Austrian licences. Tyrolean opted out of the relationship in August 1994, taking back the single Dash 8.
[edit] Privatisation
Albanian Airlines was privatised 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.
In August 2008, Albanian Airlines was purchased by the Advanced Construction Group (ACG) Sh.p.k. in Tirana, Albania, by the President Yahia Farwati, who purchased 100% of capital from the Kuwaiti-based M.A. Kharafi & Sons Group.
[edit] Evsen Group
On August 14, 2009, it was announced that Albanian Airlines had been sold to Azerbaijani-based Turkish Evsen Group, of which will be purchased by the Azeri Group 93% and 7% retained by the Advanced Construction Group.
With this investment came a new logo, addition of destinations, and an addition of aircraft to the existing fleet. In 2009, the carrier saw the addition of aircraft are two Boeing 737 as well as one Boeing 757, all of which were leased from Air Slovakia.
On October 9, 2009, it was announced that Albanian Airlines would soon open new destinations to Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Rome, Athens, Jedahh, Beijing, and later the United States of America. Along with lower rates of travel, the addition of more Fokker 100, and scheduled use of the Boeing 747, such claims fell through due to financial problems, including the repossession of all leased aircraft from Air Slovakia.[5]
[edit] Destinations
[edit] Fleet
As of October 2011, the Albanian Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft with an average age of 22.5 years:[6]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAe 146-200 | 1 | 0 | 92 | ||||
| BAe 146-300 | 2 | 0 | 92 and 98 | ||||
| Total | 3 | 0 | |||||
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 72. 2007-03-27.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ Albanian Airlines - Spirit of Albania
- ^ Albanian Airlines fleet list at planespotters.net
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