The exploits of “Air Albania” are endless. While the company has gone downhill, the ones who are suffering are the citizens. Yesterday it was announced that flights have been blocked for two days, while the company continues to sell tickets. But according to Pamflet's sources, it has been a week since “Air Albania” has only changed flight schedules and made successive cancellations. Citizens complain that they are being left on the streets, without any official response.
Even though in reality the planes are not taking off, tickets continue to be sold on the official website of "Air Albania", especially for the Tirana-Istanbul route.
Behind this collapse is a story that resembles more an economic-political thriller than an aviation project. The main partner, Sinan Idrizi, has been criminally charged to SPAK by the American company GA Telesis, for breach of contract, fraud and illegal possession of aircraft. According to the charge, “Air Albania” used two A320 aircraft, even though the contract had been terminated and payments had not been made. The aircraft were secretly parked in Istanbul, to avoid seizure.
Meanwhile, another partner company, SkyUp from Ukraine, has withdrawn its aircraft for non-compliance with the agreement, leaving the Albanian company without an active fleet. In fact, only one aircraft borrowed from “Fly2Sky” has made sporadic flights to Istanbul. No logo, no flag; just technical survival in the air.
But this is not the story of a company that failed for market reasons. This is the story of a scheme built on political agreements, shell companies and abuse of public funds. The main shareholder, MDN Investment, did not exist in the Central Bank a few days before the creation of “Air Albania”. The partnership was announced without a tender, without competition and without transparency – a deal that, according to the opposition at the time, was granted on political orders.
The Albanian state has only 10% of the shares. The rest belongs to Turkish Airlines and an Albanian company with capital of only 800 euros. Behind the scenes, everything was built to create the facade of a national airline, while financial control and benefits were in private hands.
"Air Albania" has not submitted any official balance sheet. It is not known how much money it has earned, how much it has lost, and how much its debts are. But one thing is clear: today, after 7 days without any flights, with grounded planes, with reports to SPAK and with employees laid off, this company is practically bankrupt.
Citizens have paid for tickets that were never returned. Pilots and flight attendants report back wages. And the government? Not saying a word. Its silence is as criminal as the schemes that were used to build this mafia airline.
"Air Albania" is not just a company that no longer flies. It is a brutal example of how corruption, clientelism, and propaganda can rise into the air, but fall with a loud crash to the ground.
Editorial
