Albatros Airways

{{Distinguish|Albatros Airlines (disambiguation){{!}}Albatros Airlines}}

{{Infobox airline

|airline = Albatros Airways

|logo = Albatros Airways.svg

|logo_size = 192

|fleet_size = 1

|destinations = 8

|IATA = 4H

|ICAO = LBW

|callsign = ALBANWAYS

|parent =

|company_slogan =

|founded = 2004

|ceased = 2006

|headquarters = Tirana, Albania

|key_people = Albens Vokopola, Valer Hoxha, Aleksandër Hoxha, Tritan Anamali, Fatmir Prifti,

|hubs = Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza

|secondary_hubs =

|focus_cities =

|frequent_flyer =

|lounge =

|alliance =

|subsidiaries =

|website =

}}

Albatros Airways Sh.p.k was a low-cost airline based in Tirana in Albania. It flew to destinations in Italy using Fokker 100 aircraft. Its main base was Rinas Mother Teresa Airport (TIA), Tirana. On 1 September 2006 the airline was grounded, only with one phone call on 31 August 2006, by the Albanian aviation authorities because of unpaid airport and air traffic control fees.[http://www.ch-aviation.ch/airlinepage.php?code1=LBW CH-Aviation] 9 September 2006

History

The airline was established and started operations on 3 November 2004.{{fact|date=November 2023}}

On September 1, 2006, the airline was grounded and according to local media it was advised to stop selling tickets.

The grounding led to heavy political controversies in Albania. The opposition and the management accused the government of having interfered against Albatros Airways violating the free market economy. The office of the President of Albania was accused of having favoured Albatros Airways.{{Cite web |date=2006-09-24 |title=Albanian opposition parliamentarians protest at the government building - Tirana Times |url=https://www.tiranatimes.com/albanian-opposition-parliamentarians-protest-at-the-government-building_100257/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |language=en-US}}