UNMIK/FR/0043/01
FEATURE RELEASE - June 8, 2001

Air Transport

The Future of Kosovo Starts at Pristina Airport
By Eleanor Beardsley

When Kushtrim Musa returned from the United States to visit his family in January 2000, he planned to stay for several weeks.  But then destiny called.  Now 18 months later Musa finds himself an integral part of the Civil Aviation team at UNMIK's Department of Transport and Infrastructure (DoTI).  Musa and his colleagues are responsible for overseeing civilian air traffic operations at Pristina Airport.  Specifically, Musa manages slots for commercial, civilian airlines wishing to squeeze in amongst the many daily military flights to and from Pristina Airport.  Musa also works to attract new airlines to fly to Pristina.

According to Musa, the airport has never been as busy as today. Pristina Airport has more than doubled its pre-conflict civilian air traffic.  Last year passenger traffic reached 450,000, making it busier than Sarajevo airport.  With many new destinations to offer (twice weekly flights to Rome began on May 18th) and with more than 45,000 passengers per month, civilian flights now account for 50% of all air traffic into Kosovo.  The other half is made up of military and humanitarian flights.  This blend of air traffic makes Pristina Airport a complicated venue, as well as creating challenging work.

Joining the DoTI Civil Aviation team meant that Musa left his job as a flight instructor in the Unites States After four years in there - first as a student at the North American Institute of Aviation in South Carolina and then as an instructor pilot at Fulton Flight Services in Atlanta, Georgia, Musa says he knows the southeastern United States better than Kosovo.  But Kosovo is his home and Musa's dream is to pilot a commercial carrier flying to and from his native Pristina. 

The political environment at Pristina Airport is perhaps one of the most complex in Kosovo.  High-level diplomatic and political interests and many echelons of responsibility and authority influence every decision. As always, when human safety is concerned, much is at stake.

Under a Military Technical Agreement (MTA) supported by the Helsinki Agreement and signed by NATO and the Russian Army following the 1999 conflict, responsibility for operating the Pristina airfield is shared by KFOR and the Russian Army.  Kosovo's air space is under NATO control from a Regional Air Movement Control Center (RAMCC) in Vincenza, Italy.  While Resolution 1244 is in place, and until Kosovo's final status is determined, the airport will be so administered.  In general, everything runs smoothly, barring one exception: no one could have predicted the explosive growth in civilian air traffic.   

"Commercial flights bring revenue into Kosovo and fertilize the investment climate," says Patrick Auffret, Co-Head, DoTI.
 
Although good for Kosovo, the civilian air traffic increase also means more work and more responsibility for UNMIK and DoTI. For example, to accommodate all new flights and passengers, DoTI is planning several expansion projects.  These include  enlargement of the passenger terminal; construction of a cargo terminal and cargo apron; building of a new road to the airport and the creation of a 600-car parking lot.  But these and other future plans may eventually extend beyond MTA's scope, as well as those of the current institutional and legal structures supporting the airport.   

So looking to the future, DoTI invited the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the body that regulates civilian air traffic safety and standards worldwide, to come to Pristina to assess Pristina Airport's future needs, and to ensure that a solid framework exists for long-term expansion of civil aviation activities.  ICAO officials, spent a week in Pristina studying the civil aviation environment and meeting with all parties operating the airport. 

ICAO's visit will help to ensure that Pristina Airport is equipped to expand to Atlanta International Airport's size if need be. 

"If that ever happens," says Musa, "I'll feel right at home!"  
Note for editors
The full document may be consulted online in English at http://www.unmik.org/. Albanian and Serbian versions can be provided.

For a selection of photographs, please contact Mr Ky Chung at 038 504-604 ext. 5467

Contact: P. Ellwood
(038) 504 604 Ext. 5471
E-mail: ellwood@un.org