The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Kosovo has held talks with representatives from Delta and American Airlines over the potential launch of nonstop flights between Pristina and New York. “With Pristina Airport ranked as the third busiest in the Western Balkans and among the fastest growing airports in Europe, Kosovo is ready to strengthen transatlantic ties and meet growing demand for direct air connectivity. A nonstop flight would unlock new avenues for trade, tourism, and investment, while reinforcing the deep ties between Kosovo and the United States”, AmCham said in a statement.
As part of a new four-year incentive scheme, Pristina Airport is offering a Long-Haul Route Incentive targeting nonstop flights. To qualify, routes must not have been served in the past twelve months and must run for at least six consecutive months. Qualifying airlines receive a full 100% discount on landing and parking fees for the first two years, and ground handling is discounted by 50% in year one and 30% in year two. Marketing support is also available based on evaluation and requires a minimum spend of 50.000 euros per route.
New York was Pristina Airport’s busiest unserved route in 2024 for a ninth consecutive year. Over 19.800 passengers travelling from Pristina transferred through other points to reach New York on a single ticket last year. Some 15.000 travellers had JFK Airport as their destination, while over 4.800 passengers were destined for Newark Liberty. Other popular destinations in North America included Chicago, Washington, Toronto and Montreal. Pristina was last linked to New York with a scheduled air service back in 2009. Scanderbeg Air, a short-lived tour operator that contracted with Sky King Airlines, maintained two weekly flights between the two cities with a Boeing 767-200ER aircraft from June to September that year. Since then, there have been no flights between the two cities.
