TIRANA, Albania (AP) -- German-led Airport Partners Consortium on Friday started renovating Albania's Mother Teresa International Airport.
The consortium started building new passenger and cargo terminals, a new bridge in the existing road and a new access road with a euro83 million (US$107.5 million) investment over three years in exchange for the rights to manage it for 20 years.
It will also bring security at the airport up to international standards.
The aim of the three-year renovation is to triple the number of travelers passing through the airport each year to 1.5 million by the end of 2006 and up to 3 million by 2010.
The renovated airport will employ a staff of about 2,000 people. A few hundred workers are to be laid off after the work.
Prime Minister Fatos Nano said at the launching ceremony that Albania would profit by about euro600 million (US$777 million) over 20 years.
Mother Teresa airport is used by 10 airlines with flights departing for 15 destinations.
Made up of an Albanian-American firm and two German companies, Airport Partners Consortium is a shareholder in airports in Athens, Greece; Dusseldorf and Hamburg, Germany, and Sydney, Australia.
The U.S. aerospace firm Lockheed Martin has already installed a new air traffic control system at the airport.
