| LONDON TIRANA BA AIRLINE TICKETS |
Free Bonus and Free Ride to AlbaniaAuthoritative and current information on saving discounts, cheapest secret deals from nightlife, nude beaches tours, international cuisine, ethnic restaurants and exotic dances and more secret deals for a traveler to Albania. Free and special savings discounts on ferries, boats, day trips, excursions, concerts, shows, ferry transfers with Eurail pass on european trains in Europe. Albanian Tourism - Visa requirements for Albania: No visa required for citizens of the United States, the Europeen Union, Nieuw Zeeland, Australia and [EFTA countries (qv)]. British Airways start its first flights to Albania. Tirana, March 23 - British Airways (BA) would start new routes 2007 summer, including flights to Albania's capital Tirana. The new BA air service which starts March 27 will operate three times a week to connect Tirana with Gatwick airport in London. The flights scheduled for Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Boeing-737 400 planes used on the route, with about three hours of travel one-way. According to BA about 25,000 travelers will use the new London-Tirana route the first year 2007. BA's flights would have started since the middle of 2005, but then the company had some security concerns with the Mother-Teresa International Aiport of Albania. Since then German-led Airport-Partners-Consortium renovated Tirana's Airport to beef up the security standards. Albania has also drawn the attention of other airline companies. Austrian Airlines, Hungary's Malev, Greece's Olympic Airlines, Serbia-Montenegro's JAT, Italy's Alitalia, Slovenia's Adria Airways, Turkish Airlines and Bulgaria's Hemus Air all offer regular, scheduled flights to Tirana. Several domestic companies, such as Albanian Airlines, Albatros Airways and Ada Air, also offer direct flights to and from European cities. Belle Air starts flights: Tirana, Feb. 1 - A new low-cost Albanian airline company, Belle Air to start regular flights to destinations in Italy. Bell-Air becomes the 14 airline company flying out of Tirana Airport. The first route is to connect Albania’s “Mother Teresa” Airport with the Italian “Orio al Serio” airport, about 5 miles off of Bergamo in northern Italy. During this period the company offers twice a week flights to this destination. Bellaire company officials have also declared that their airfares will be as low as EUR 19, plus taxes. Future destinations include Ancona, Trieste, Forli near Bologna, Bergamo, Verona, Genova, Pisa, Athens and Istanbul. Oppenheimer Funds investing in Albania. Tirana, 6 March 2007 - Prime Minister Sali Berisha met yesterday with Mr. Samuel Grossmann, Global Chief Executive of Oppenheimer Funds. “The company proposed investment opportunities, estimated at several billion dollars, in the tourism infrastructure and construction of a tourist village, in the energy and industry sectors for the construction of a new port and an oil refinery", office of the Prime Minister said in a press release. The company said it had concluded a preliminary study for a draft-masterplan pertaining to the development of the entire Albanian costal line." Mak Albania buys biggest hotel in Saranda. Tirana, April 7 - Mak-Albania, the Albanian subsidiary of Kharafi Group of Kuwait bought for EUR12 million the only fivestar hotel in Albania, Hotel Butrinti, in Saranda south of Albania. An antique synagogue discovered in Saranda town. Tirana, June 21 - Albanian government has ordered the tearing down of several buildings in Saranda, a town in the south Riviera of Albania, in order to protect an important synagogue. “The archeological site is very important for this town”, Edlira Çaushi says. “We are working to prevent the loss of an antique castle. The site contains one of the oldest synagogues in the Balkans. A British- Israeli organization has offered to finance the reconstruction and protection of the archeological site. Albania looking west to boost tourism. Tirana, March 12 - The Government of Albania invited donors to support a Coastal-Zone cleanup program, in an effort to boost its tourism revenues especially in the southern Ionian shores bordering Greece. Tirana, 14 March 2007 World Bank Office in Tirana said that the Albanian government had published an incorrect news where WB had supposedly granted its support to a foreign company interested in investing on the coastline of Albania. "The World Bank works directly with the public sector and does not sponsor private sector initiatives", the World Bank said in a pressrelease. Office of Prime Minister announced last week that "Oppenheim fund had expressed a deep interest to invest several billion dollars in Albania and that it was supposedly backed by the World Bank and other international donors". "World Bank is assisting the government of Albania in the implementation of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Cleanup Project, which is the first phase of a two-phase Integrated Coastal-Zone Management and Clean-up Program. The objective of the Program is to protect the coastal natural resources and cultural assets and promote development of the Albanian coast", WB office in Tirana said. Vatech Hydro or Pöyren Energy want to build a hydropower plant at Bushati, northern Albania. The project costs about EUR 44 million. The Bushati hydropower plant is an old project. Its plans for the plant were first drawn up during the communist years, but were never implemented because its construction would affect the whole Lake of Shkodra decreasing its flow and changing the whole flow cycle of the region. Vatech Hydro is an Austrian company producing equipments for hydropower plants. Tirana, July 2, 2007 Albania sent another 113 troops to Afghanistan, aimed to becoming a useful country as it works at raising its prospective of becoming a NATO member. The new troops will work under the Italian command in the province of Herat, north of Afghanistan. The troops belong to Albania's Third Battalion of Rapid Response based in Berat, (120 km south of Tirana). Tirana, 19 March 2007 – Albanian government is under pressure from Greeks and Turks for privatization of Albtelecom, the telecommunication company. Tirana, 19 June 2007 - After a long two-year period of negotiations the President of Calik Enerji, Mr. Ahmet Calik and the Albanian Minster of Economy, Trade and Energy, Mr. Genc Ruli, signed the agreement for the privatization and sale of a 76% stake of Albtelecom. An agreement was signed in April 2005 where 78% of Albtelecom was sold to the Turkish company for EUR 120mn, but the new rightwing government stopped the procedures. After the signing, Mr. Calik promised additional investments in the corporation, amounting to about EUR 30 million. Albtelecom’s total revenue for 2006 was reported at EUR 120 million, while profit was reported at EUR 14 million. Albtelecom has 250,000 customers and a reported revenue of USD 120 million. The corporation is currently working to expand its broadband internet service, and has also a strategic international position with interconnection lines from Bari (Italy) to Istanbul (Turkey). Albanians call for boycott of Greek products in the country: Tirana, 12 March, 2007 – Many young Albanians discussing the call to suspend consumption of Greek products in the country as a response for the Greek army video, which showed Greek soldier's singing an offensive song against Albanians. Several Albanian web forums and blogs have published a list of Greek owned businesses & products, including four banks, several petrol station networks as well as food and beverage products produced in Greece or in Albania, by Greek companies. Some Albanian nationalists, who accuse Greece of turning the country into a colony of Greece, are using the protest to halt the rising power of Greece in the country. In 2006 Greek imports reached EUR 406mn, while Greek investments are estimated at over EUR 400mn. Greek companies and businesses own substantial shares in the telecommunication, petroleum and financial markets in the country. A private video showing Greek soldier's singing "We are gone a make shoe-strings with Albanian guts" was published last week on the Internet, then was commented by the Greek and Albanian media. Together with the first video there was a second video where the soldiers were singing an anti-Turkish song. In Durres and Elbasan, protesters burned Greek flags. Strong protests were organized by the "Cham" population, ethnic Albanians that used to live in the territory of current Greece till the end of World War II. OMONIA, a NGO representing the Greek-minority in Albania, called to stop burning their national symbol. 12 February 2007 - Rama under attacks: “Sot” daily published on Sunday private photos of Edi Rama in a nudist beach in the south of France. Rama is running for his third mandate for major of Tirana. “They have disclosed things about my private life in their desperate struggle to win Tirana”, Mr. Rama stated late on Sunday. The photos were shot 12 years ago and had been published first by a Bosnian daily, according to Rama. Prime-Minister Sali Berisha is known for using politicians’ private life as ammunition for his dirty political attacks. Albanian consortium wins second mobile operator license in Kosova: Tirana, 7 Feb 2007 - An Albanian consortium won the bid for the second mobile-operator in Kosova. Kosmocell, a consortium created by “Dukagjini” and “Kujtesa”, offered EUR 81 million (USD 104.8 million) for the license, the Regulatory Authority of Kosova stated. Dukagjini company is owned by Mr. Ekrem Luka, a businessmen from Peja. Kujtesa is the leading internet service provider in Kosova. The new operator will compete with Vala 900, currently the state-owned monopoly in the UN-controlled former Serbian province. Tirana, 8 Feb. 2007 - Right-wing ruling coalition and the leftwing opposition are trying to create an informal "patriotic" coalition to run for the mayor of southern town of Himara. The coalition intends to overthrown the incumbent Greek mayor Vasil Bollano, from the Human-Rights Party, which in Albanian politics represents the Greek minority of the country. In Himara, local supporters of Albanian Socialist party could vote for the right-wing candidate, in an undeclared "anti-Greek" compromise. There may be a hidden agreement because the government fears the Greek reaction. Himara is a town inhabited partly by the Greek minority. In 2003, a hidden coalition between the Greek minority and rightwing Democratic Party, brought to power Mr. Bollano. Located in the southern cost of Albania, the town attracted important construction investments thus exerting pressure on the mayor whom controls the construction licensing monopoly. Report Source: Albanian Economy News : AENWHAT IS EFTA? The EFTA Convention was originally signed on January 4, 1960 in Stockholm by seven states including United Kingdom, Austria, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. Today only Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein remain members of EFTA. The Stockholm Convention was subsequently replaced by the Vaduz Convention, and EU membership. SAMPLE: AIR TRAVEL LONDON TIRANE AND HOTEL PACKAGE TOUR Adria Airways Flight + Hotel in Tirane = 396.80 GBP (appx. price per person) Total price includes: Flight: 1 return tickets & taxes, Hotel: 2 nights in 1 room
Tirana International: Adria Airways Flight + Hotel in Tirane = 487.80 GBP (appx. price per person) Sheraton Tirana Hotel and Towers: ALBANIA LOOKING WEST TO BOOST REVENUESVery unhappy with the influence of Greeks and Turks Albania's trying to woo Italians to develop more profitable ties between these two Western countries. This Brindisi conference was about promoting of Albania's image as a reliable and valuable partner.Italia - Albania: una storia lunga 3000 anniData: 12 Mag 2007 09:30, Luogo: Brindisi, Indirizzo: Castello Alfonsino, Organizzato da: Provincia di Brindisi Convegno in occasione della quinta edizione del Salone Nautico del Salento, nell'ambito del progetto TURSEADR finanziato dall'Iniziativa Comunitaria Interreg IIIA Italia - Albania Il convegno vuole testimoniare la volontà d’incontro delle culture e delle economie dei due popoli le cui vicende storiche si sono tante volte incrociate: una lettura del passato nella visione di un futuro dentro la casa comune dell’Unione Europea. Il posto dell’Albania è sicuramente in Europa, dentro il mosaico europeo per condividerne i valori di democrazia, tolleranza, libertà e rispetto dell’ambiente. Una Nazione sempre più vicina alla Puglia che ha saputo dimostrare solidarietà al popolo delle aquile con il quale oggi condividere un percorso di crescita economica e culturale. PROGRAMMA Presiede: Saluti delle autorità: Relazioni: IL PATRIMONIO CULTURALE ALBANESE LA NAVE DI ENEA. MITO E TURISMO TRA PUGLIA E ALBANIA IL PROGETTO SENTIERI BLU – PIC INTERREG IIIA ITALIA-ALBANIA LA COSTA ALBANESE E LE STRUTTURE TURISTICHE Ore 13:00 - Degustazione |
SECRET NICHE ALBANIAN REPORTS |