Kosovo opens air corridor with Albania

(Patria) - Kosovo's Minister of Infrastructure, Liburn Aliu, announced that Kosovo has opened an air corridor with Albania.

Aliu announced on his Facebook profile today that flights to Western countries will be shortened by almost 15 minutes.

"From January 1, in addition to traveling without visas, passengers will save even more time," Aliu stated.

He also touched upon visa liberalization for Kosovo citizens, which comes into effect on January 1.

Kosovo citizens were the only ones in the Western Balkans unable to travel visa-free in the free movement zone - Schengen, reports RSE.

Since 1999, flights to and from Pristina International Airport have been conducted only through the air corridor connecting Kosovo with North Macedonia.

The agreement with Albania to use the country's air corridor was reached in 2020. This agreement stipulated the opening of two air coordination points - Kukës and Arber.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Kosovo (CAA), which manages the country's low airspace, the agreement was not implemented due to some technical procedures that had to be approved by Albania and the NATO mission in Kosovo - KFOR.

Unlike Kosovo's low airspace, managed by ACV, the high airspace - above 6,200 meters, open for commercial traffic since 2014 - is under the control of Hungary, specifically HungaroControl.

The reason for this is that Kosovo has not yet reached the capacity to manage high airspace.