Tirana International Airport (TIA) held a ceremony on Tuesday, 18 June 2019, to celebrate the beginning of a new tourist charter flight between Moscow and Tirana.

Some 221 tourists arrived from Russia on the first flight from Moscow, curious to see Albania and enjoy its sandy beaches.

The scheduled flight will be operated once a week by Ural Airlines throughout the summer with an Airbus 320.

“This is the first group of tourists from Moscow. People from Russian cities are very interested to see Albania and we wish them a wonderful experience. TIA is supporting such new routes, aiming to boost tourism and raise the image of the country,” said Dr Rolf Castro-Vasquez, TIA’s Chief Executive Officer.

Ural Airlines is based in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and operates scheduled and chartered domestic and international flights out of Koltsovo International Airport. In 2016, the company transported 6.5 million passengers.

TIA has already highlighted that its staff are well prepared for this year’s peak season and able to provide the highest possible standards of safety, service and passenger comfort and convenience.