Prishtina International Airport Adem Jashari (Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Prishtinës Adem Jashari), also referred to as Pristina International Airport (Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Prishtinës, IATA: PRN, ICAO: BKPR), is an international airport in Pristina, Kosovo. The airport is located 15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of the city of Pristina, Kosovo. The airport has flights to numerous European destinations. The airport is the only port of entry for air travelers to Kosovo.[2] It is named in honor Adem Jashari, the founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
The airport was originally built as Slatina Air Base, containing the second-largest military underground hangar complex in Yugoslavia.[citation needed]
The apron and the passenger terminal were renovated and expanded in 2002 and again in 2009. In June 2006, Pristina International Airport was awarded the Best Airport 2006 Award by Airports Council International (ACI). Winning airports were selected for excellence and achievement across a range of disciplines including airport development, operations, facilities, security and safety, and customer service.[5]
On 12 November 2008, Pristina International Airport received for the first time in its history the annual one-millionth passenger (excluding military). A special ceremony was held at the airport where the one-millionth passenger received a free return ticket to a destination of his choice served by the airport.[6]
In late 2010, the airport was renamed from Pristina International Airport to Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari, the founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought for the secession of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the 1990s.[7]
Due to the ongoing dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, flights to and from Pristina International Airport are impacted by the refusal of ATC in Serbia, namely SMATSA, to allow overflights via Serbian airspace.[8] This ultimately results in flight paths avoiding Serbian territory with flights to Pristina having to enter via Albanian or Macedonian airspace.[8] This dispute can generally add up to 30 minutes to a flight duration and discussions to overcome this dispute have so far failed.[citation needed]
In April 2011 operation was handed to Limak Kosovo International Airport J.S.C. under a design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) 20-year concession agreement with the Turkish-French consortium Limak and Aeoroports de Lyon. To take account of travel disruptions due to COVID-19, in 2024 the concession agreement was extended another 20 months.[citation needed]
In December 2021 the runway was extended from 2,500 m to 3,000 m and ILS upgraded from Category 2 to Category 3b, funded by the Kosovo Government. In 2013 a new 42,000 m2 terminal was inaugurated. In July 2024 the number of gates increased from 8 to 12, funded by the private operator.[citation needed]
The Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, Liburn Aliu announced that construction of a railway from Pristina to Pristina Airport is expected to begin in 2024. The project has also received EU funding. [58]
^"Singer James Blunt 'stopped World War 3'". BBC. 14 November 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2014. In an interview with BBC Radio 5Live, to be broadcast later on Sunday, he said: "I was given the direct command to overpower the 200 or so Russians who were there.