Pristina International Airport scoops prestigious 'Best Airport 2006 Award'

Pristina International Airport's transformation from a war-torn, former military base into a modern, dynamic airport serving a key role in the Balkans is a remarkable story. Ronan Anderson, Office for News and Communications, EU Pillar, reports.

In June, Pristina International Airport was awarded the ‘Best Airport 2006 Award’, an honour presented by Airports Council International (ACI), the only worldwide professional association of airport operators. ACI's European Region represents over 400 airports in 45 European countries. The award was presented by Roy Griffins, Director General, ACI EUROPE (L), to James Johnson, the airport's Managing Director (R), in front of over 400 senior airport and airline executives at the Gala Dinner of the 16th ACI EUROPE Annual Congress in Athens.

Airports across Europe once again competed in the ‘ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards’ for the prestigious title of ‘Best Airport 2006’. Winning airports were selected for excellence and achievement across a range of disciplines including airport development, operations, facilities, security and safety, and customer service.

Five winning categories were split according to annual airport passenger numbers: over 25 million passengers, 10-25 million passengers, 5-10 million passengers, 1-5 million passengers and airports under 1 million passengers. Pristina International Airport was pronounced winner of the ‘Best Airport 2006 Award’ in the category ‘Under 1 million passengers per year’.

The ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards judging panel recognized:

Pristina International Airport’s unique history;
impressive 300% increase in passenger traffic over recent years; the major investment in facilities;
the rapidly expanding network; and
the airport’s intensive capacity building and staff training programs.

DSRSG Joachim Ruecker commented: “The ‘Best Airport 2006 Award’ from Airports Council International is a fantastic achievement and reflects the airport’s outstanding progress.”

James Johnson, Managing Director, Pristina International Airport, received the award, stating: “I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of the airport team and the community that we serve. Pristina International Airport has a unique history and has undergone an extraordinary transformation from a military to a civilian airport. ACI’s ‘Best Airport 2006 Award’ recognizes this development. This is a great day for Pristina International Airport.”

Background

Pristina International Airport (PRN) is Kosovo's air bridge to Europe and the rest of the world. PRN is the only international airport within the United Nations (UN) administered territory of Kosovo. It handled scheduled airlines and charter flights resulting in a total of 945,000 inbound and outbound passengers last year. The airport now serves over 21 destinations (including direct flights to London, Vienna, Istanbul, Budapest, Zurich, Tirana, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Stockholm among others) and 18 commercial airlines.

This is an astounding development for a small provincial civil/military airport in former Yugoslavia, serving 250,000 passengers before the 1999 Kosovo conflict. During that time, both the air terminal and runway system were bombed; the air traffic control tower, radar, and other technical facilities were destroyed, and all equipment was stolen, removed or damaged. The airport was also the backdrop to a major flashpoint between US and Russian troops at the end of 1999.

With the withdrawal of the Yugoslav military at the conclusion of the conflict, the airport did not have any technical staff to facilitate necessary aircraft services and control. As a result, NATO and Russian Forces started operating the airport as a military facility, with limited civilian traffic beginning in late 2000.

The rebirth of Pristina International Airport is the result of an unparalled dedication and focused effort by the new staff at the airport, with support from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the Icelandic Civil Aviation Administration (ICAA), and the multinational military forces (Kosovo Forces (KFOR)).

Following the military handover of the responsibilities for the airport to UNMIK in 2004, a decision was made to form a Joint Stock Company where all activities were merged into one company. Here the emphasis is on implementing best practice in airport management. Under the staff slogan, “Best Airport in the Balkans” PRN staff, with support from ICAA and ICAO, have continued their efforts to make PRN a world-class airport.

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