Still not starting, Pristina bus line failed Aeroport

The selected operator says it could not work with losses. The ministry revotes the line, but says it is examining the subsidy, to functional it.

In April last year, former Infrastructure Minister Lutfi Zharku had announced that month the functioning of the Pristina-Aeroport buses and vice versa. But 10 months after, there is no such thing.

Personal cars and taxis continue to remain the only solution for citizens. Under other circumstances, buses would be the first solution for many of the latter.

At Pristina International Airport, they say they do not know the reason for not functioning such a line, although, according to them, they have been waiting for it for years. They add that long ago they have offered the contract to the operator selected by the Ministry of Infrastructure, but that, according to them, it has never appeared again.

In the winning tender company, “Brvenik”, they say they were withdrawn after three months, because they could not work with losses, in the absence of travellers.

The company's owner in question, Avni Murtezi, says that seeing that operating only with the line for travellers is impossible, has asked him to carry airport workers, but, according to him, has not been offered and he has withdrawn.

In the Ministry of Infrastructure, they acknowledge that the functioning of this line has failed.

“MI has made the opening of the market through the announcement of free inter-urban departures in Pristina relief Aeroport and vice versa, with what lines a operator has given in order to create conditions for the movement of citizens respectively access to services for and from Pristina International Airport HINAm Jasharı. It is noteworthy that the winning operator has failed to operate for reasons that there has been no economic stability, so the friendly legal procedures MI has made the revocation of those lines because of not holding lines from the winning operator”, said Saranda Jusuf, from the Ministry of Infrastructure.

However, according to Jusuf, the ministry just months ago has approved an administrative guide for subsidising inter-urban lines economically unstable but necessary to citizens.

Calling to this direction, she adds that they are considering the possibility of operating this line through subvention in the future.