Airport concessionaire, police trade blame over €1 mln robbery
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- "National security is a common responsibility of all security authorities present at the airport. In this grave incident, in case the goal is making excuses, the consequences will be far more severe than robberies,” said an airport spokesperson
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TIRANA, July 4 - The airport concessionaire and the state police have trade blame over the spectacular theft of about Euro 1 million from the country's sole international airport just outside Tirana, an incident which has raised national security concerns.
In their first reaction following the armed robbery at the airport's takeoff area last Thursday, the Tirana International Airport (TIA) concessionaire blamed the state police for the incident, saying that the private ICTS security company is responsible only for the safe operation of the airport and operates unarmed.
Describing police reports as inaccurate, TIA said it immediately notified police authorities who were on the runway only few meters away from where the robbery took place.
"ICTS, an international airport security company regularly certified by the Albanian Civil Aviation Authority, is not eligible to physically intervene and operates unarmed. The only armed forces at the airport are the State Police," said an airport spokesperson.
Rule of law outside the airport's surrounding area from where the robbers' car came in is a full responsibility of the state police, Arlinda à‡ausholli, the airport’s communications director, told a news conference.
"National security is a common responsibility of all security authorities present at the airport. In this grave incident, in case the goal is making excuses, the consequences will be far more severe than robberies,” she added.
TIA's airport security director, the ICTS operational director, two airport security officers and a commercial bank official have been arrested over the incident.
Three tests carried out by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority last April showed security checks can be easily avoided at the country's sole international airport with agents pretending to be passengers managing to carry explosives, cold weapons during check-ins and even break into the airport's security area from the outside.
The Tirana International Airport is about to be taken over by a Chinese consortium following a deal with the TIA concessionaire which has managed the airport since 2005. The airport's initial 20-year build-operate-transfer concession contract has been extended until 2027 following a deal lifting TIA's exclusive rights on international flights which paves the way for the operation of a second airport in the country and lower tickets. The TIA airport is one of the country’s main hubs serving 2 million passengers a year.
Earlier on Friday, police said robbers managed to escape with about Euro 1 million in the spectacular movie-like scenario theft at the country’s sole international airport on June 30, only less than 48 hours after tighter security measures were put in place following the deadly Istanbul airport terrorist attacks.
Tirana police chief Ervin Hodaj said armed and masked men carrying Kalashnikov rifles managed to steal at gunpoint slightly less than Euro 1 million from an armoured vehicle at the airport’s takeoff area.
The police chief blamed the incident on the airport concessionaire and lack of security measures by the private company it has contracted, saying police warnings had been neglected.
This is the third time in the past 18 months huge amounts of money being transported by security companies on behalf of local commercial banks has been spectacularly stolen in broad daylight in downtown Tirana and just outside the capital with the perpetrators unidentified in all cases.
