Tirana International Airport, TIA, has closed another fantastic year, reconfirming itself among the fastest growing airports in Europe compared to the pre-pandemic period, 2019.

Referring to data published by ACI Europe, Airports Council International Europe, which represents more than 600 airports in 55 countries, analyzed by Ekofin.al, the number of passengers flying from TIA in 2025 was 248.7% higher than in 2019 (2,556,846 passengers in 2019 increased to 11,640,047 in 2025).

With this growth, Rinas Airport turns out to be among the top 5 European airports with the strongest growth out of a total of 485 airports.

Also, in terms of the regional ranking of Western Balkan airports, Tirana International Airport (TIA) is confirmed as the largest airport with the highest passenger volume, with 11,640,047 passengers with an annual growth of 8.7%. With this performance, Tirana stands significantly ahead of Belgrade (BEG), which registered 8,913,520 passengers, with a more moderate growth of 6.5%.

In third place is Kosovo - Pristina (PRN) with 4,595,524 passengers, marking one of the strongest growth rates in the region, 12.7%, while Skopje (SKP) follows with 3,211,419 passengers and 8.7% growth, at the same pace as Tirana, but with a significantly lower base.

Adriatic tourist airports show more restrained dynamics: Dubrovnik (DBV) recorded 3,090,245 passengers, with an increase of 4.6%, while Sarajevo (SJJ) stands out for the strongest growth on the list, 22.2%, although with a more limited volume of 2,226,692 passengers.

At the bottom of the ranking, Podgorica (TGD) is the only airport with a decline, recording 1,752,077 passengers and a contraction of -0.3%, while Tivat (TIV) closes the list with 1,343,265 passengers, but with a significant increase of 19.5%, supported mainly by tourist seasonality.

Overall, the data shows that Rinas not only leads the region in volume, but is consolidating its role as the main air hub of the Western Balkans, clearly standing out from other airports, both in terms of size and sustainability of growth.

Rinas' strong growth coincides with the takeover of the airport by the Kastrati Group, which since the end of 2019, when the concession agreement was signed, has made around 200 million euros in investments until the end of 2025, and plans to continue during 2026, where the most ambitious plan is the extension of the runway for the first transoceanic flights expected in the summer with Canada and then in the near future with New York in the USA. / ekofin.al