Tirana International Airport Nene Tereza is the most important center of transportation in Albania and the country's only international airport. In 2008, Tirana International continued its exceptionally positive development, with passenger growth of 14.4 percent. For the second time in row, it was used by more than one million passengers.

Since 2005, operational responsibility for the management of the airport has been in the hands of the airport company Tirana International Airport SHPK (TIA). Within the framework of a BOOT concession, TIA will operate and develop the airport up to 2025. It has set itself the goal of steadily optimizing operations at the new airport and making it into one of Albania's most up-to-date infrastructure facilities.

One of the measures to this end was construction of a completely new passenger terminal which was inaugurated in March 2007. The modern, state-of-the-art building sets new standards for Albania in terms of performance and functionality and also in respect of architecture and thus makes its own unique contribution to the transformation of the country's capital city.

The aim is to provide passengers and airline alike with smooth, reliable and first-class service. The outstanding range includes selected retail and catering outlets, which are under the overall management of HTA via the specially established company HOCHTIEF AirPort Retail. This is the first time that HTA has been responsible for the entire retail management of an airport.

Acknowledgement of the airport's management is also expressed by third parties: Only recently, Tirana International Airport won the Albanian Leadership Award 2008 in the category Private Sector/Business. The jury honored the airport operating company for demonstrating high social responsibilities, saying that TIA offered "a new vision for the metropolitan area of Tirana." The award appraisal goes on to say that with its investments and the expansion of the airport, the operating company had "changed the image of Albania in the eyes of visitors and tourists into that of an open, stable and dynamic country for domestic and foreign investment".