Part of my “open jaw” itinerary of flying as a passenger with Turkish Airlines back in October of 2022 was my first time as a passenger with Air Albania in the economy class cabin aboard an Airbus A320-200 airplane from Tirana to Istanbul, as both airlines have a codeshare agreement. The final segment from Istanbul to New York was on a Boeing 777-300ER airplane that was operated by Turkish Airlines.
My First Time As a Passenger With Air Albania — and The Verdict Is…
Air Albania is the official flag carrier of Albania. It serves seven destinations in Türkiye and Italy full time from its hub airport in Tirana, with three additional destinations on a seasonal basis. The airline was established on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 by a consortium led by the governments of Albania and Türkiye under a partnership that is both public and private; and operations began on Friday, September 14, 2018. Turkish Airlines owns almost 50 percent of Air Albania as a founding partner.
Passengers used an external portable staircase to board from the apron of the airport into the airplane. No jet bridge was used.
The amount of pitch between rows of seats in the economy class cabin — which is the distance between the back of your seat and the back of the seat in front of you — and the width of each seat are not disclosed at the official Internet web site of Air Albania. The head rests of the leather seats were separate and adjustable. I had no complaints about the leg room, as I did not feel restricted or confined in my seat, which was reasonably comfortable. Inside the seat pocket was a safety information card for the airplane.
The overhead control unit was equipped with adjustable air vents. The activation of the reading lights required reaching up to the overhead control unit.
I was treated to a view of Tirana facing northwest not long after departure. This is one of the joys of sitting in a seat by the window, in my opinion.
The meal for breakfast arrived not too long after departure from Tirana.
Breakfast comprised of a ham and cheese sandwich with a long slice of cucumber; a salad of tomato, olives, cucumber, and peppers; a piece of cake; and some beverage called Fruit in. I ate everything except for the ham and cheese. The food was passable overall and not something I would ever crave or enjoy — but for a flight of only 100 minutes, I cannot complain, as at least something was served.
The ingredients of Fruit in included “water, fruit content: ACE 3% minimum, (orange 2%, lemon 0.5%, carrot 0.5%) sugar, acidity regulator: citric acid E330, antioxidant: ascorbic acid” — which is why I refuse to refer to this bland beverage of little more than slightly flavored water as juice. At least bottles of actual water were given out to each passenger later during the flight.
I am not sure of how many seats were in the economy class cabin aboard the Airbus A320-200 airplane. Plenty of room was available in the overhead storage bins.
I had no need to visit the lavatory; so I did not go there to take photographs on the short flight from Tirana to Istanbul. I did not check to see if access to Wi-Fi was available aboard the airplane during the flight.
Final Boarding Call
The flight was a pleasant experience overall, as virtually everything pertaining to this flight went well. I would consider flying as a passenger on Air Albania in the future — but because their flight network is currently rather limited, that will likely not happen.
I am not sure as to the age of the Airbus A320-200 airplane on which I was a passenger.
The only question is what happens when things go wrong, which thankfully did not occur with this flight…
All photographs ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
