1991: A New Civil Authority Comes to Being in a Former Communist State

February 3, 1991

In Albania, the Directory General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was established in the country’s capital city of Tirana. DGCA, which is now known as the Albanian Civil Aviation Authority (AAC), was put into place to monitor and manage Albania’s dramatic growth in air traffic at a time when the country was starting to evolve from a decades-old socialist state to one of the newest democracies in Europe. Less than two months after DGCA was created, for example, the first multi-party elections to be held in Albania since 1923 took place.

DGCA’s importance grew more throughout the decade as aircraft flights and ridership continued increasing within Albania. One milestone underscoring these significant changes early on in the decade was the establishment of the country’s first private air carrier, Albanian Airlines, in 1992. Albania’s major airport, Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza, now serves 3.3 million passengers per year (slightly more than the country’s population).

These advances in aviation have been mirrored among other transportation modes in Albania in the years since communist rule began to weaken. A case in point involves motor vehicles. By the start of the 1990s, the total number of automobiles in Albania didn’t exceed 7,000. After the Albanian government lifted a longtime ban on private vehicle ownership in 1991, however, automobile imports started averaging approximately 1,500 per month.

AAC’s current executive director is Krislen Keri, who has served in the position since 2017. His previous work experience included serving as quality assurance officer for AAC and aviation advisor to Albania’s minister of transportation and infrastructure. (The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure was merged into the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy in 2017.)

For more information on the Albanian Civil Aviation Authority (originally known as the Directory General of Civil Aviation), please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Aviation_Authority_(Albania).

Additional information on Albania’s overall transportation network is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Albania.