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| Vlora Airport under construction, November 2023 |
Two years after November 2021, when the construction of Vlora Airport began, work is progressing rapidly on the construction of service buildings, while the two runways where planes will land have been completed.
This year, the construction of the segment from the Fier-Vlora national road to the airport has started, and the government has approved additional funding in the 2024 budget to complete the work on this road.
The Albanian government has so far disregarded the reactions of environmental organizations and a recommendation in September of this year from the Bern Convention to suspend work on Vlora Airport until a new environmental impact assessment is completed.
The Bern Convention, also known as the Convention for the Conservation of Wildlife and Natural Habitats in Europe, is a binding international legal instrument in the field of nature protection and conservation. Albania signed this Convention in 1995, and it entered into force in May 1999.
Two months ago, the Alliance for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea sent a letter to the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, the European Commission, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), requesting the suspension of the construction of Vlora Airport in the Narta Lagoon. The letter was signed by 33 environmental organizations from at least 27 countries in the region.
Meanwhile, the Tirana Court is considering a lawsuit filed in November 2022 by two Albanian environmental organizations, "PPNEA" and "AOS," supported by the international organization "EuroNatur," opposing the plan to build Vlora Airport in the Narta Lagoon.
The First Instance Administrative Court of Tirana had decided in November 2022 not to accept the lawsuit filed by the two Albanian environmental organizations, but the Administrative Court of Appeal overturned this decision, giving legitimacy to environmental organizations to confront the government regarding the decision to build the airport.
The Albanian government has declared that the project to build Vlora Airport does not affect the protected area of Narta; on the contrary, it contributes to the development of tourism in the entire region.
According to government authorities, the project envisages investment in the area where the old airport used to be, and possibilities have been explored to ensure that the project complies with environmental regulations.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, through a social media post this summer, expressing the pace of work on the new airport runway, stated that work is progressing rapidly with the aim of landing the first plane in the summer of 2025 at Vlora Airport.
The Protected Landscape Vjose-Narte is, according to the assessment of organizations, one of the most important ecological systems in Albania, the second-largest lagoon in the country, home to important species of flora and fauna, and part of several international ecological networks, the Adriatic migratory corridor, with more than 220 bird species.
The construction of Vlora Airport began in November 2021 by a consortium of companies, with 50% of the shares owned by "Mabetex" of entrepreneur Behgjet Pacolli, in partnership with the Turkish company "Yda Group," which held 48% of the shares, while 2% belonged to the Kosovo company "2A Group Shpk."
In March of this year, the Turkish company withdrew from the consortium, and the company "Mabco Constructions" acquired 98% of the shares of the concession of Vlora International Airport after buying the shares owned by the Turkish company for 4450 euros.