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(image: statue to Skanderbeg, the 15th century nobleman and soldier, sometimes seen as the father of the Albanian nation. The family's coat of arms has the double headed black eagle that features on the Albanian flag).

Amid all the uncertainties, problems and operational difficulties, BA is doing two inaugural routes in July 2020, Pristina (PRN) and Newquay (NQY). Several other inaugurals were planned, including Perugia, Podgorica and Antalya, these have been wiped out at least for this year. Portland Oregon (PDX) theoretically survives in the schedule for September but it isn't likely to operate, in my view.

Here I'm putting on the record my experiences of the inaugural service to Pristina, Kosovo, on 4 July 2020, the same day that BA re-opened the lounges in T5. LHR to PRN was always scheduled to start that day, and I was somewhat surprised it survived unchanged, even to the timing and aircraft, from the point that I booked the service back in mid December 2019. However this service has the hallmark of a test, to see if the route can be made viable. Previously the service ran for many years via LGW.

This was inevitably a very low key affair. I do not recall a single announcement or acknowledgement of the new service. It was a pretty full flight though, with 140 people on board. CE was mostly full to 6 rows, and ET was reasonably busy too. I don't think I've ever been on a LHR European flight with so many children on board, luckily they were well behaved. Almost everyone on board was Kosovo, this is destined to be a Friend and Family route. There were some travelling to surrounding areas, since there are parts of surrounding countries with easy access to Pristina. Pristina airport was also reopened for business on 28 June 2020, having been closed since 16 March, and nearby Skopje reopened on 1 July. So for those families who needed a straightforward direct flight to the area, BA offered one of the first available services.

Catering in CE is currently the temporary sandwich meal box, with crisps and water for EuroTraveller passengers. Drinks were liberally available in CE and on my service the cabin crew were very attentive.

The flight to PRN is 1,181 miles on the Great Circle, however flights landing at PRN cannot over-fly Serbia, they have to arrive via Albanian or North Macedonian airspace, due to the long-running dispute that Kosovo has with its northerly neighbour. It remains a 40 TP route in Club Europe though, while Tirana is slightly shorter (1,161 miles), is an 80 TP route and you typically have to fly over Tirana to get to Pristina. As you arrive into PRN there are some pretty dramatic mountain passes, it's quite an interesting landing.



Pristina Airport



The airport is modern and efficient. It's a 20€ taxi fare from the airport to the city centre, the airport is 15 km south west of the city centre, the roads are modern and so it won't take more than 20 minutes to get to your hotel. There is also an hourly bus service, 1A, which costs a few Euros and goes to the Pristina Cathedral and Prishtina Hotel. The whole airport is outside Schengen, passport control is swift, as is security. There is no airside connection, so it's not a good choice for back to back trips. You have to connect via landside. Airbridges are used for most flights. There is a smokers' terrace. It's inexpensive, a coffee will be 2€ and a 500ml bottle of water 1.20€. There is an airport-owned lounge, but it's not yet available to BA passengers or Priority Pass. This may change if BA decide to run the route more regularly.



Some notes about Kosovo
I enjoy travel, and I tend to find something positive to say about pretty much anywhere. But it is difficult to see what Pristina offers to tourists, it has suffered as much from mutliple attempts at "modernising" the city as it has from wars. The city has some sights and things to do, but it's relatively small (200,000 residents) and probably PRN will be more useful as a springboard to the region. It is a young city, the birth rate has been high in recent decades and Kosovo's biggest export is its people. That said, the place is inexpensive, easy to get around, fairly efficient and the local residents are very friendly to visitors. Pristina is the second largest Albanian speaking city in the world, after Tirana, but it is very different from Albania in many ways. English is effectively the second language of the city, there's no need to brush up on your Albanian.

Kosovo is only recognised by about half the members of the United Nations. The modern state was founded by declaring independence from Serbia in February 2008 after a dreadful war in 1998. The UK, France, USA and most of their allies recognised Kosovo almost immediately, along with most of Europe. Serbia does not recognise the declaration of independence, and countries such as Russia, China, Greece and Spain do not recognise Kosovo to this day. So this is a country which cherishes its friends more than most. It operates as a liberal, secular democracy, in a context where nominally 97% of Kosovans are Muslims. I was intrigued to walk past a police station with a large notice board attached to it, and rather than seeing posters warning about the dangers of drugs or some administative notices, this noticeboard was covered in photos of the station's police dogs playing with school children.


(Image: "Heroines", made from 20,000 medals on pins, representing Kosovar women victimised by the 1998-1999 war).

The one thing Pristina is very much old school relates to evening strolls - a big activity in the evening is to just walk around the town's main streets with your friends or family, people watching, meet and greet others, perhaps take a coffee or ice cream in the hundreds of cafés that dot the city. Coffee drinking is a favourite pastime there, drinking alcohol in public is also fine too. But it's not a rich country, indeed on many metrics Kosovo is the poorest country in Europe, so the trick to affordable café life is to drink slowly and talk at length!


(image: the National Theatre on the right, the former Union Hotel built in 1927, now a Benetton store, in the centre, and minarets in the background).

Bill Clinton and his administration is held in the highest esteem, due to his role in facilitating Kosovan independence from the war with Serbia, the main thoroughfare is called Bulevardi Bill Klinton, which has this banner and a statue to the former president below, and there is also a Bulevardi Xhorxh Bush.


Random points
- Don't assume you will get data on your mobile phone, the local companies have unpaid bills with many of the UK's operators. Telephony service should work though.
- ATMs are plentiful but it's difficult to avoid a 5€ fee for cash withdrawals on foreign cards, so it may be better value to get Euros elsewhere. Kosovo is only unofficially a Euro country, it's not in the EU or Schengen, let alone EuroZone.
- Smaller cafés and shops may not accept credit cards, but there won't be a problem with larger establishments.
- Eating and drinking in Pristina is inexpensive, a meze board of snacks and a coffee should come to around 5€.
- Kosovo isn't doing too well with the pandemic, and social distancing is counter-cultural given how Pristina's society works. But formally it's a 1.5 metre social distancing. Masks aren't worn much, but are compulsory at the airport.

aidy

Thanks for the write up, I’m amazed they launched this route during this time

FlyingWelshie

Thanks for the trip report. Back in 2008 I spent six weeks in Kosovo for work and your report brought back some memories.

I remember some of the roads where rough back then and glad they have improved. I actually really enjoyed the food and agree Pristina is not a great tourist destination but there was some pretty scenery throughout the county.

Back then there was a direct BA flight LGW to PRN and CE did allow access to the business lounge.

DaveS

Yes, I flew into PRN with BA ten years ago. They were flying every other day from LGW back then. I have been to Kosovo several times and I always enjoyed it. For sure there are not too many 'tourist' sites, but there is good and cheap food and friendly people.

bhbloke

CWS, did you go for the Grand Hotel experience? A fascinating place, the manager will normally give you a tour of the derelict floors as he's very happy to see any foreigner staying there. Great for pigeon fanciers.

Confus

Great TR. The city has certainly changed over the last few years. If anyone fancies a trip out there, I can heartily recommend Prizren, the country’s second city. Stunningly beautiful, great food, wonderful people, and a lovely atmosphere. If Pristina is where the foreigners hang/hung out, Prizren is the ‘real’ city.

DesertNomad

I am sure Prizren has changed a lot since my visit in 2011, but it was a very nice place to hang out.

BAeuro

It has been reported that BA will increase this service to 3x weekly flights next year and begin the season earlier (March 2021).

It’s nice to see that this new route survived and even flourished during COVID-19.

James91

Great news - I thought about visiting this year but once a week, I didn't know if there was a weeks worth of stuff to do there.

Confus

There isn’t, but it’s an easy open jaw with (for example) TIA.

bhbloke

And a great three city trip, with Peja (Pec) and then a pretty spectacular drive through the mountains to Podgorica (If BA ever start that up)

PGberkshire

or SOF

BAeuro

BA’s new route to Pristina seems to be performing excellently. Not only was it started last year, when other routes were being axed, it has grown to 3x weekly (with most flights on the A321neo).

I’ve also noticed most flights go with a 90% + load factor. Today’s flight went with 209/220 pax according to EF (and that’s without accounting for empty middle seats in Club).

However, Club cabins are small, which probably means lower yields.

Speedbirdsouth

huge VFR traffic on this route I assume (as was the case on when we had it at LGW) so less impacted by covid and C loads were never strong ex LGW either

BAeuro

Tirana is also performing well - under the same presumption of VFR traffic. LHR-TIA is now double daily which is even more than when it was at Gatwick pre-covid. Funny which routes come to save you