Albawings is an Albanian

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

headquartered in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

and based at its hub at

Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza ( sq, Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës Nënë Tereza, ), often referred to as the Rinas International Airport, is one of the two main international airports of the Republic of Albania. It serves the ...

History

Albawings was founded in February 2015. Albawings was awarded the Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) by the

Albanian Civil Aviation Authority The Albanian Civil Aviation Authority (AAC) ( sq, Autoriteti i Aviacionit Civil të Shqipërisë), formerly the ''General Directorate of Civil Aviation'' ( sq, Drejtoria e Pergjithshme e Aviacionit Civil, DPAC) is the civil aviation authority of A ...

on 4 February 2016. The first aircraft of the company, a

Boeing 737-500 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, ...

, with which Albawings started its operations, is called "Spirit of Tirana". On 11 December 2016, the second aircraft was delivered by

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

. The leased plane was a

Boeing 737-400 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

owned by Cardiff Aviation and it is named after

Sir Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...

, who was a very popular actor for Albanians during the communist regime of

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

, mainly for his role of Mr. Pitkin. It has been recently reported that Albawings entered a codeshare agreement with Neos for flights to

Milan-Malpensa Airport Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss Canton of Ticino. The airport is northwest of Milan, next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and Pie ...

and to New York-JFK Airport.

Destinations

The airline operates flights to several Italian destinations.

Codeshare agreements

The Italian airline Neos and Albawings established a new codeshare partnership on June 16, 2022, covering two of the company's four weekly flights between

and

Milan Malpensa Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss Canton of Ticino. The airport is northwest of Milan, next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and ...

. Upon receiving certification from the US Department of Transportation, the two also intend to expand their codeshare arrangement to include Neos'

–

New York JFK John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...

route on the codeshare agreement.

Fleet

The fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of February 2020):

References

External links

* {{Airlines of Albania Airlines of Albania Albanian brands Airlines established in 2015 Low-cost carriers