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Albania-Kosovo air corridors are opened

2023-12-28 08:43:06, Aktualitet CNA

Illustrative photo

The Minister of Infrastructure in Kosovo, Liburn Aliu, announced the news that Kosovo has opened air corridors with Albania.

Through a post on Facebook, in the early hours of Thursday, he said that flights to Western countries will be shortened by almost 15 minutes.

"From January 1, compatriots, in addition to traveling without visas, will save even more time," Aliu said.

He referred to the liberalization of visas for citizens of Kosovo, which comes into force on January 1, 2024.

Citizens of Kosovo were the only ones in the Western Balkans who could not move without visas in the free movement zone, Schengen.

Albion Idrizi, master of aviation, told Radio Evrtopa e Lirë a month ago that after the opening of the air corridor between Kosovo and Albania, in addition to shortening the flight time, the price of tickets will also be reduced.

Currently, according to him, the average price of a one-way ticket from Kosovo to all EU countries is 140 euros. With the shortening of the flight, this price can drop up to 6 percent, or 8 euros, says Idrizi, an entrepreneur in the field of travel and tourism in Croatia and Kosovo.

Since the post-war period, in 1999, flights to and from the Pristina International Airport have been carried out only through the air corridor that connects Kosovo with North Macedonia.

The agreement with Albania, to use the air corridor of this country, was reached in 2020.

This agreement provided for the opening of two air coordination points, Kukad and Arbër.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Kosovo (CAA), which manages the country's low airspace, the agreement has not been implemented due to some technical procedures that had to be approved by Albania and the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR.

Unlike the low airspace of Kosovo, which is managed by the CAA, the high airspace - above 6,200 meters, open to commercial traffic since 2014 - is under the control of Hungary, namely HungaroControl. This is because Kosovo has not yet reached the capacity to manage high airspace.

In accordance with Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council, but also with the current laws in Kosovo, the KFOR commander has been responsible for the security of Kosovo's airspace since 1999.

Millions of people travel to and from the International Airport of Pristina "Adem Jashari" during the year.

Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Austria and the United Kingdom have been, so far, the most frequent destinations./REL