Ryanair opens four aircraft base in Tirana
Ryanair opened (01-Apr-2026) its new base with four aircraft at Tirana Rinas Airport (TIA) on 31-Mar-2026. The LCC's 2026 summer schedule from Tirana features 44 routes, including 21 new connections to destinations such as Alghero, Dublin, Eindhoven, Genoa, Malta, Milan and Naples. The schedule is projected to support 50% traffic growth to four million passengers p/a, with operations to support more than 3000 jobs in Albania. The carrier plans to "continue this investment" over the next five years, basing up to six aircraft in Tirana and growing traffic to more than six million passengers p/a while operating over 60 routes by 2030. TIA COO Piervittorio Farabbi stated: "Since starting its operation in Oct-2023, Ryanair has continuously challenged us to raise our standards and deliver true operational excellence. TIA staff and management have certainly risen to the occasion: not only we delivered terminal and airside capacity in record time, by completing a EUR120 million capex plan addressing all key airport infrastructures, but we were ready to evolve and to adapt our operational best practices to the needs of a modern airline, focusing on efficiency, turnaround times and performance". [more - original PR - Ryanair] [more - original PR - Tirana Rinas Airport]
Background ✨
Ryanair previously outlined plans to open a Tirana base in Apr-2026, initially with three based Boeing 737-800s and a summer 2026 network of 33 routes including 10 new links such as Birmingham, Dublin, Milan, Malta, Naples, Trieste and Turin.1 It later upgraded the plan to a fourth based 737-800 in Apr-2026, citing Albania's zero aviation tax policy and Tirana incentives, and reiterated a target of up to six based aircraft and over six million passengers p/a by 2030.2