In Albania, air traffic, paralyzed for two days by a strike by controllers and after the deployment of the army to ensure the security of the only airport in the country, resumed normally on Friday at Tirana airport.
The first commercial flight with passengers left the airport for Italy on Friday at 9:05 am (07:05 GMT).
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"
Flights have resumed normally, no flight was canceled on Friday,
" said a press release from the airport authorities.
Thirty flights have been canceled since Wednesday evening due to a strike by air traffic controllers who demanded an increase in their wages, to compensate for a loss of income caused by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on air traffic.
Sixty controllers abandoned their workstations on Wednesday to protest against the 62% reduction in their income last year, according to their union.
The government argued that they currently earn an average of more than 2,000 euros, which is five times the average salary in Albania.
About twenty controllers questioned
“
Everything is back to normal.
Justice must now clear up this serious incident,
”Albanian Minister of Infrastructures Belinda Balluku wrote on Twitter.
Twenty controllers were arrested and three others arrested on suspicion of "
abuse of power
", a charge punishable by seven years in prison.
Some of them have resumed work and Turkish and Greek controllers have come to support their Albanian counterparts to complete the teams and ensure the resumption of air traffic, Prime Minister Edi Rama said Thursday evening.
Humanitarian and medical flights had partially resumed Thursday.
A plane carrying 100,000 doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine arrived Thursday afternoon from Turkey as the authorities announced the resumption of humanitarian, health, diplomatic or military flights.
Ms. Balluku accused the air traffic controllers of having "
a political agenda
" while Albania is in the midst of an electoral campaign for the legislative elections scheduled for April 25.
Edi Rama, for his part, accused opposition parties and President Ilir Meta of plotting a "
coup
" and wanting to "
prevent the arrival of vaccines
" in Albania, accusation that the head of the State rejected.
Read also: Albania launches vaccination, its prime minister criticizes the EU
Since the fall of communism in 1991, the Albanian political life is marked by verbal excess and the effects of sleeve which always kept alive a climate of conflict between the various political forces.
