ALBANIA’S FASTEST GROWING AIRLINE LAUNCHES 6 NEW W24 ROUTES

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (26^th Nov) launched its Winter ’24 schedule for Tirana with +25% traffic growth (vs. Winter ’23) across 22 routes including 6 new routes to Bari, Bristol, Budapest, Lamezia, Naples, and Vienna. In just 12 months, Ryanair has become Albania’s fastest growing airline, carrying 3m passengers – growing inbound tourism and jobs at the lowest fares.

Ryanair’s Tirana Winter ’24 schedule will deliver:

• 6 new routes – Bari, Bristol, Budapest, Lamezia, Naples, and Vienna.
• 22 routes in total.
• 3m passengers p.a.
• +25% traffic growth vs. Winter ’23.
• Supporting over 1,900+ jobs in Albania.

Competition amongst airports and countries for traffic growth has never been higher as airline capacity continues to be constrained due to competitor fleet groundings and aircraft delivery delays. Lower access costs are key to securing Ryanair traffic growth as demonstrated in Sweden, where Ryanair recently announced 2 additional based aircraft for Summer ’25 following the Swedish Government’s decision to abolish aviation taxes from 1 January ’25. There is an opportunity for Tirana to secure accelerated Ryanair traffic growth over the next 5 years – including up to 15 based aircraft ($1.5bn investment), 5m+ passengers p.a., and 50 routes – subject to lower access costs which are required to support our low fares.

To celebrate its first anniversary in Albania and its 6 new routes (22 in total), Ryanair has announced a 3-day seat sale, with fares starting from just €19.99, available exclusively at ryanair.com.

Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, Jason McGuinness said:

“As Albania’s only low fares airline, Ryanair is pleased to announce 6 new Winter ‘24 routes from Tirana to Bari, Bristol, Budapest, Lamezia, Naples and Vienna, marking our first anniversary in Albania with our largest Winter schedule yet; Ryanair will increase traffic this Winter by +25%, carrying 3m passengers this year across 22 Tirana routes.

While Ryanair is committed to offering low fare connectivity to Albania, the key to unlocking accelerated traffic and tourism growth is lower access costs, as most recently demonstrated in Sweden where Ryanair added 2 based aircraft for Summer ‘25 in response to the Swedish Government’s decision to abolish aviation taxes from 1 January ’25.  We look forward to working with our Albanian partners to deliver accelerated traffic and tourism growth over the coming years”.

Mr. Piervittorio Farabbi, Chief Operating Officer and Administrator of Tirana Airport, said:

“The arrival of Ryanair last October has challenged TIA in pushing the operational envelope even further. As a result, we can now deliver streamlined operations and more efficient turnaround for all our airline partners.

But most importantly, the increased competition has resulted in the better offer and the expanded route network that have helped TIA reach unbelievable traffic results.

We look forward to continuing working with Ryanair for many years to come.”