Air Albania has started deploying its newest aircraft, an Airbus A320, on scheduled services. The addition of the A320 complements the A319 and the B737 that Air Albania already has. It is named Naimi, and it will play an important part in the development of the growing aviation industry in Albania.
Air Albania grows its fleet
Last week, Air Albania, the startup flag carrier and national airline of Albania, expanded its fleet with the arrival of an Airbus A320 aircraft named Naimi and registered as ZA-BBC.
The aircraft entered operations last Friday, 10th September, with a rotation service to Istanbul (IST) from the airline’s base in Tirana (TIA) and back.
The aircraft was delivered to Air Albania from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW) on 8th September. Air Albania is tightly linked to Turkish Airlines, which is also the largest single shareholder with an ownership stake of 49% in Air Albania. The other 51% is held by investors in Albania.
A celebratory moment for the airline
Sinan Dilek, the CEO of Air Albania, celebrated the occasion by calling the day that the A320 entered into service a “milestone.” He also said:
“Naimi will be flying over [the] Balkans, Europe and Turkey to all our destinations. I’d like to thank all our partners for their collaboration and also [say a] big thank [you] to our staff for their very hard work.”
The aircraft has already been put to use daily since the day it arrived.
On its first day, the aircraft flew as flight ZB1001 to Istanbul (IST), then back to Tirana (TIA) as ZB1005, then back again to Istanbul as ZB1003, and back to its base as ZB1004.
On its second day, Saturday 11th September, the aircraft operated the same two rotations from Tirana.
Then, on Sunday 12th September, it operated to a new destination, Milan Malpensa (MXP), along with two rotations to Istanbul again.
Today, 13th September, the A320 flew to Istanbul and Milan again.
All three aircraft flying
Tomorrow, all three aircraft in Air Albania’s fleet are scheduled to be flying at the same time, thus showing that the airline is already making use of the new A320 to boost its schedule during periods of high demand.
One aircraft will leave Tirana for Milan Malpensa (MXP) at 08:30, another will leave for Verona (VRN) at the same time, and a third one will fly to Istanbul (IST) at 09:20.
Air Albania’s booking engine currently shows the Airbus A320 being deployed to Istanbul, and the Economy Class is showing as sold out. Only Business Class tickets are on sale.
For the rest of the day, the three aircraft are not scheduled to be needed simultaneously again: only flights to Pisa (PSA), Milan Bergamo (BGY), and Bologna (BLQ) are scheduled for the rest of the day tomorrow. Italy is an important market for Albania, and it is currently dominated by Wizz Air.
What do you think of Air Albania expanding? Let us know in the comments below.
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