FLASH
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A flight on this type of aircraft, one of the most luxurious in circulation, costs a minimum of 35 thousand euros, even when booked a month in advance...
This is the moment when Prime Minister Edi Rama lands at Schiphol Airport in The Hague, on one of the most controversial trips in recent times.
The video provided by Dosja.al shows the Albanian prime minister exiting a private Gulfstream Aerospace G-IVSP aircraft, with the registration "TC-EMR".
This trip took place a few days ago on the occasion of the NATO leaders' summit, which was also attended by US President Donald Trump. What raises questions is not the participation in the summit, but the means and cost of the trip: 34,965 euros for a one-way private charter.
According to Dosja.al's research, a flight with this type of aircraft, one of the most luxurious in circulation, costs a minimum of 35 thousand euros, even when booked a month in advance. Cigarettes and pets are allowed inside the aircraft, there is a full kitchen, private toilet and a personal assistant throughout the flight. Food is offered at a gourmet level, including sushi and other specialties.
Dosja.al contacted the press office of the Prime Minister's Office to find out who paid for the charter and on what financial basis the flight was carried out, but by the time of publishing this article, there had been no response. The Prime Minister himself, on previous occasions when asked about the charters he uses, has given contradictory statements.
After data was published by Iranian hackers on Rama's charter flights with the Airbus A319-100 aircraft, where it was claimed that the cost was 15 thousand euros per hour, the Prime Minister said:
"For my taxi, they can say millions and billions, the flying taxi, but in the end it's the numbers, because they have paid bills. As Prime Minister, I cost Albanian taxpayers if we compare year by year, so 2021 with 2010, I cost taxpayers 4 times less travel costs. For me, it's 650 thousand old (65 thousand new lek)."
At the time, Rama stated that he had a promotional agreement with "Air Albania" and the trips were part of advertising for the company.
When Dosja.al published the booking contract for one of the charters but not the promotional agreement it mentioned, Rama reacted with a post on Twitter:
"God, whether you cry or laugh, it's only here that people start to slander you and tell you to be transparent! But how can this transparency be achieved when you show them the figures and they act like they don't understand?!"
But when they say why are you advertising Albania? But who should I do it to, channels, portals or rubles?! Let alone when they say only sheikhs and dictators travel by charter, while all the governments of the region, including Europe, have their own planes, except for Albania and Kosovo!
We can't buy it, we can't rent it, so we bought flight hours with a promotional deal! But where's the point, they say, that it's not possible?! It's like it's not possible!
The deception is clearly evident in the non-stop effort to poison, corrupt, incite this people to quarrel and conflict with the most monstrous slander, starting from half-truths that are also the biggest lies."
In the 2025 election campaign, Rama completely avoided costs, but tried to justify the flights with the "importance of state work":
"Travel, I swear if I had the opportunity to cut them with a knife and minimize them, I would minimize them with the greatest pleasure, because they are business trips, they are not pleasure trips. I find it hard and I am surprised, what luxury flight? All my private flights, with my family, even today as we speak, and all the time, I only do them in economics like everyone else, all of them.
"The business flights, with the plane I had the opportunity to have, are business flights, they are time-saving, cost-saving. With the agreement we have for that plane, we don't spend a single lek more for the state than what is spent on average every year by prime ministers."
The truth is that this trip was not made with "Air Albania" and is not related to any promotional agreement. The plane is registered in Turkey and does not appear to be owned or in collaboration with the Albanian airline.
Even Air Albania, which Rama has constantly promoted as a personal achievement, according to Arben Ahmetaj, has gone bankrupt.
"This Air Albanian has gone bankrupt. The head of the organization has gone bankrupt. I feel sorry for the owners, out of respect for the citizens, I have here the balance sheet of Turkish. As of December 31, 2019, Air Albania's loss is 20 million euros. Rama has said that I am the image of Air Albania.
Now imagine Michael Jordan, who is the image of NIKE, losing and keeping him as an image. Citizens have paid for Rama's charter through taxes.
"We are talking about money diversion. A flight to Rome from Tirana is 14 thousand euros. Let them count all the trips. Let them see how much the Government is billed for a minimum trip, then let them see what happened to the taxes at Air Albania. Let them see the airport fees," Ahmetaj said.
This is not a business trip. It's a 35 thousand euro trip with sushi, cigars and personal assistance at an altitude of 11 thousand meters. And for any citizen who doesn't understand, don't worry, Rama means it only costs 65 thousand new lek. Maybe he's confusing it with the minimum wage.
So the only question that remains is: Who pays for Rama's charter? You, him... or maybe "advertisement for Albania"?
Because at the end of the day, when you travel like a sheikh but govern like an ascetic, you're either a master of propaganda... or you just know that no one will hold you accountable./ Dosja.al
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