Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza

Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza (Rinas International Airport, ) is near Tirana, Albania.

Understand
This is Albania's main airport with numerous connections to all over Europe and a few connections to Asia and the Middle East.

Flights
The following airlines and cities connect to Tirana:
 * Aegean Airlines – Athens, Heraklion (seasonal), Rhodes (seasonal)
 * Air Albania – Milan-Bergamo, Bologna, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London-Stansted, Milan-Malpensa, Pisa, Rome, Verona
 * airBaltic – Riga (seasonal)
 * Air France – Paris (seasonal)
 * Air Serbia – Belgrade
 * Albawings – Ancona, Florence, Genoa, Perugia, Venice, Verona
 * Austrian Airlines – Vienna
 * British Airways – London-Heathrow
 * Croatia Airlines – Zagreb (beginning 14 June 2024)
 * easyJet – Geneva
 * Edelweiss – Zurich
 * Eurowings – Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
 * flydubai – Dubai
 * flynas – Riyadh (seasonal)
 * Iberia – Madrid (beginning 28 March 2024)
 * Israir Airlines – Tel Aviv (seasonal)
 * ITA Airlines – Rome-Fiumicino
 * Jazeera Airways – Kuwait City (seasonal)
 * LOT Airlines – Warsaw–Chopin
 * Lufthansa – Frankfurt, Munich
 * Norwegian – Copenhagen (seasonal), Oslo (seasonal)
 * Pegasus – Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Antalya (seasonal, beginning 3 June 2024)
 * Ryanair – Bari (beginning 31 March 2024), Paris-Beauvais, Milan-Bergamo, Birmingham (beginning 31 March 2024), Bologna, Bristol (beginning 31 March 2024), Bucharest-Otopeni, Budapest (beginning 31 March 2024), Catania, Brussels-Charleroi, Edinburgh, Kraków, London-Stansted, Manchester, Marseille (beginning 31 March 2024), Pisa, Prague, Rome-Ciampino, Stockholm-Arlanda, Treviso, Vienna (beginning 31 March 2024), Warsaw-Modlin, Weeze
 * Turkish Airlines – Istanbul (IST)
 * Wizzair – Abu Dhabi, Bari, Berlin, Bologna, Cologne, Frankfurt-Hahn, Memmingen (Munich), Milan-Bergamo, Milan-Malpensa, Nuremberg, Rome

By bus



 * Budget transportation, or heading to Shkoder or Kruja
 * In case you want to bring down the costs for the trip to downtown Tirana to 100 lek, try catching a regional bus from the main road right/north out from the terminal. Some regional buses do a detour by the airport (called Rinas for them), because it is faster to get into the city this way than to go through Kamëz. On the way to the airport, there should be buses from the Northern Bus Terminal running by Rinas (it even states it in the time table, but this is unconfirmed).


 * Alternatively, if you got time, you can always go through Kamëz (pronounced Kamza)—buses between Kamëz and Skanderbeg are 40 lek and go regularly during the day. Between Kamëz and the airport it is 7½ km along a side road, but many cars use it, and you can likely find someone to hitchhike with until Kamëz (or even Tirana).


 * Also, to leave from or arrive to the airport cheap or to arrive from or leave to destinations north of Tirana (like Shkoder or Kruja), you could walk (3½ km) north around the airport to/from the main highway, which runs east of the airport. Many regional buses go along this highway (Fushe Kruja, Shkoder, Lezhe). From/to this sideroad to/from Tirana it should be 50 lek on a regional bus via the Northern Bus Station. Hitchhiking to Tirana or at least to Kamëz from here is also easy.

By taxi
Taxi prices (per ride not person) start at 1,100 lek (as of 2023) — tell them time and location via WhatsApp:. They take 20–25 min.

A regular taxi to the centre right outside the terminal is about 2,500 lek (Jan 2018).

At night
In case no bus is going from the airport (but see the information on the second additional airport bus company above!), just wait outside the airport where many cars go by. Someone locals or an unofficial taxis will offer to take you downtown. Don't pay more than 300-500 lek (per person). If the driver does not agree, just wait for the next guy—there are many. Have the exact change ready and pay attention to the rules for unofficial taxis.

By rental car
Options to rent a car outside the airport to travel around in Albania are numerous. Most offices are located just south of the south exit of the airport. The pickup/parking will often be a few hundred meters outside of the fenced airport area.

Wait
The MonCheri café in the middle has a nice roof top area inside the terminal, in case you want to sit somewhere more quiet and unbothered. Inside the terminal there are some couches near the first toilets, but they might be café customers only.

Eat and drink
There is a KFC, one or two restaurants and several cafés in or around the terminal.

Money
Right next to the baggage carousel in arrivals there is the airport’s tourism information desk, an ATM and a currency exchange office—with bad rates, only exchange €5-10 here.

In the main hall, exchange bureaus and ATMs can be found.

Shopping
Facilities in the terminal include a press shop and several cafés.

There are also cheaper cafés (€0.80/espresso) just (right) outside the fenced airport area, where taxi drivers go for a drink.

Connect
Free Wi-Fi is available in the airport, but not always reliable.

Vodafone and One are selling SIM cards inside the airport, but these only include packages which are the most expensive ones on offer in Albania—starting at 2,300 lek for 40 GB. They claim that they do not offer the usual entry SIM/package for 800 lek (including 3–6 GB). So, unless you really need 40 GB, wait until you arrive in downtown Tirana and get a regular package there—see Albania.

Cope


Since 2024, printed boarding passes are allowed to be used to enter the departure hall. Alternative, you can still check in via the check-in counters, even if you "have to print" your boarding pass, i.e. with Ryanair and WizzAir. However, it is unclear how long the latter will be allowed, since people forgetting to print out their boarding passes (or even checking-in prior) is a major revenue for budget airlines.

Sleep
Many hotels and guesthouses are in walking distance to the airport.