The Scandinavian tour operator Ving has cancelled all charter flights planned for the summer season to the newly built Vlora airport in southern Albania. The travel company, which belongs to the Sunclass Airlines group, cited pending international operating permits for the Albanian airport as the reason for the cancellation.
Originally, direct flights from Oslo and other Scandinavian cities to the Albanian Riviera were planned for the summer months. However, because the airport was unable to complete the necessary safety and certification procedures for international scheduled services in time for the start of the peak travel season, all booked package holidays to this destination were cancelled without replacement.
The incident highlights the regulatory hurdles involved in commissioning aviation infrastructure in Southeast Europe. Before commencing international flight operations, new airports must undergo a standardized certification process according to the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This Aerodrome Certification Program includes technical inspections of navigation instruments, runway lighting, and the internal safety management system. Furthermore, the airport fire brigade's response times must be validated in test runs lasting several months. In the case of Vlora, the Albanian licensing authorities and the airport operator failed to meet these bureaucratic and technical criteria within the required timeframe.
Industry analysts view the cancellation as an economic setback for the Albanian tourism sector, which has seen significant growth in foreign visitor numbers in recent years. The Albanian government is investing heavily in decentralized infrastructure projects to relieve pressure on the primary airport in Tirana and to connect structurally weak coastal regions directly to the European market. However, critical market observers point out that ambitious opening dates for infrastructure projects in the Western Balkans are often set too optimistically for political reasons. For tour operators, such short-notice capacity losses mean considerable logistical problems and financial expenses for processing customer refunds.