The open conflict between the shareholders of Vlora International Airport, businessmen Behgjet Pacolli and Valon Ademi, which has been taking place for months at the doors of the courts with successive decisions and has also appeared widely in the media, seems to be already producing consequences in the information space on social networks, creating confusion for the public and the market.
Recently, a Facebook page claiming to represent Vlora International Airport has published an announcement stating that the Swiss airline Chair Airline will be the first carrier to operate from this airport, with direct Zurich-Vlora flights starting from June 26, 2026, twice a week until October 23, 2026. The announcement is accompanied by official statements, quotes from airport executives and calls for ticket reservations, implying that everything is confirmed and in the implementation phase.
However, a research conducted by Ekofin.al on social networks shows that there is more than one page claiming the status of the “official page” of Vlora Airport, with content, tone and announcements that do not match each other. This situation raises serious doubts about the authenticity of the information disseminated and the real authority behind these public communications.
The doubts deepen even further when attention shifts to the airline itself mentioned in the announcement. Referring to Chair Airline's official communications and materials, the destination "Vlora" does not currently appear on the list of destinations announced or promoted for the 2026 summer season. The lack of any official reference from the airline itself for this route makes the announcement published on social networks even more contradictory.
On the operational front, the situation remains equally unclear. Although a demonstration test flight was conducted before the May 2025 elections, Vlora International Airport is not yet open for commercial operations. According to the concession agreement with the Albanian government, the target date for the airport to be operational is set at 22 February, with an additional time range of up to 90 days, i.e. until 22 May 2026, but so far there has been no official announcement of the full completion of the works, operational certification or the start of regular flight procedures.
In this context, the conflict between shareholders, which continues to produce legal and institutional tensions, has significantly increased the questions about the future of Vlora Airport, its capacity to respect contractual deadlines and the realization of announcements that speak of international flights as early as June 2026.
For now, as the parties face off in court and information on social media remains fragmented and often contradictory, the public, tour operators and the aviation market are left without a clear answer: when will Vlora Airport actually open and who officially speaks on its behalf? Until an institutional and transparent clarification, any announcement by airlines and concrete dates remains exposed to doubt and uncertainty. /ekofin.al/
