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Pristina International Airport

Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari (Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Prishtinës "Adem Jashari"; Serbian: Међународни аеродром Адем Јашари / Međunarodni aerodrom Adem Jašari) is an international airport located 15 km southwest of Pristina, Kosovo. It is an international airport that handles over 1.6 million passengers per year. It is under the authority of the Republic of Kosovo and is the only port of entry for air travelers to Kosovo. Pristina International Airport is a secondary hub for Adria Airways of Slovenia. The airport is named after Adem Jashari, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

History
Pristina Airport was officially opened in 1965 by the Yugoslavian government.

Pristina Airport was set up in the 70's to be used for military use,while it was opened for flights to Belgrade in the 90's. In 1985, Information Technology Unit was equipped with the technology according to ICAO standards. During the 1990s, the airport started operating international flights, mainly to and from Switzerland and Germany.

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.

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. The passenger was on board Germanwings flight 4U 2946 arriving from Stuttgart, Germany.

The airport was privatised in May 2010 with Limak Holding-Aeroport de Lyon awarded a 20-year contract to operate the airport. Passenger volumes grew further; 1.3 million passengers used the airport in 2010. A new 42,000 m2 landmark terminal was completed in October 2013 with operations beginning in November 2013.

The airport's official website promotes itself as Prishtina International Airport.

By Car
From Prishtina : Pristina International Airport ADEM JASHARI is located 18 km south west of Pristina and 3 km south of Slatina and not farther than 80 km from the other cities. The time of the journey is approximately 30 minutes from Prishtina. From Peja: You should use the main road Peja-Prishtina, then by following the traffic signs you will see the airport sign in your right side where you should turn. From Mitrovica: You should use the main road Mitrovica-Prishtina and when you reach Prishtina city then take the main road Prishtina-Peja, then by following the traffic signs you will see the airport sign in your left side where you should turn. From Prizren: Take the main road Prizren –Prishtina, and you should pass through the small town Shtime, when you reach the main junction of the town Lipjan, you should make the right turn. From Skopje : By following the traffic signs you use the direction of capital city (Prishtina), then at the junction you are supposed to make a left turn. After you reach the Main Prishtina Bus Station, you should turn in the right and there is another junction, where you have to make a left turn again and then just continue straight ahead in the direction of Peja city. The time of the journey is approximately two hours from Skopje.

By Taxi
There are taxis at PIA J.S.C. available 24 hrs. and the charge is around 25€. From the cities to the Airport the taxis are available 24 hours and the charge is according the meterâs system.

By Bus
Airport buses are available 24 hours; the schedules of busses are every two hours from the airport to the city and vice versa. The busses depart from the capital city (from the Airport buildings), and from the Grand Hotel (centre of Prishtina) and vice versa.



Stores
Passengers who fly through Pristina International Airport have at their disposal all the services offered at other airports including the store 'duty free'.Except Duty Free there are two small shops within the departure terminal. One is equipped with different articles as musical instruments, national symbols, orgininal CDs and DVDs, daily newspapers, magazines, books, maps, children’s toys , bags and a lot of other articles.The other one is fully equipped with souvenirs of wood , alabaster, bacre, crystals, and a lot of other articles which are all handmade. Except those articles there are national handmade dresses ,different wines with ornaments etc.

Room for business class
Prishtina International Airport "Adem Jashari" to its customers who fly business class, with various airline companies, offers special services within the waiting room for business class passengers, which started operations in 2008. Here, customers can find all kinds of foods, beverages, media, local and international print, TV, and computers with wireless Internet

Restaurants
Prishtina International Airport has a restaurant and three bars for coffee and snack.A strategically important part of the services being offered to customers PIA 'Adem Jashari' is to provide the best conditions to cause that customers have the opportunity to eat or to cool drinks while waiting departures their flights departure. Airport owns several restaurants that are open 24 hours and offer different meals, hot and cold as well as soft drinks and alcoholic.

CIP (Commercial Important Persons )
Prishtina International Airport ‘Adem Jashari’ Limak-Kosovo brings the new CIP product/service for all its customers who wish to use it. This service/product includes: Special passage and quick passport control Comfort accommodation in Business Lounge including extra services (computers with internet connection, wireless, air condition, satellite television, non-limited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, sandwiches, cakes and other fast food) Special escort to airplane with CIP dedicated vehicle, separately from other passengers.

Parking
Finally, Prishtina International Airport "Adem Jashari" Limak Kosovo has presented an extensive system of parking. Shot in all global international airports, parking system service enables customers to use the free parking at the airport for commercial first 15 minutes. It includes a parking for more than 1,750 vehicles. All inputs are equipped with movable barriers and surveillance cameras.

Statistics
The following airlines operate scheduled and charter flights at Pristina International Airport (as of February 2014).

Cargo
Limak Kosovo International Airport J.S.C.-Prishtina International Airport”ADEM JASHARI” offers different Cargo services in a fast, effective and professional way. Security is a key advantage for the staff thus they examine all the cargo shipment by the most modern Heimman x-ray machines.

Incidents at Pristina International Airport
From 12 to 26 June 1999 there was a brief but tense stand-off between NATO and the Russian Kosovo Force in which Russian troops occupied the airport. A contingent of 200 Russian troops deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina then crossed into Kosovo and occupied Pristina International Airport in Pristina, the capital city of Kosovo.

Negotiations were conducted throughout the standoff, during which Russia insisted that its troops would only be answerable to Russian commanders, and that it retain an exclusive zone for its own peacekeepers. NATO refused, predicting that it would lead to the partition of Kosovo into an Albanian south and a Serbian north. Both sides eventually agreed that Russian peacekeepers would deploy throughout Kosovo, but independently of NATO.

After securing an agreement, Pristina Airport was reactivated by 53 Field Squadron (Air Support) Royal Engineers as a military airbase on 15 October 1999, then with 45 employees restarted international air transport to several European cities. During that period, the Russian KFOR along with NATO forces were in charge of security for the airport.