Airport named in honour of Sheikh Zayed's humanitarian mission opens in Albania

The revamped Kukes International Airport Zayed – once the site of a UAE aid camp during the 1998 conflict – welcomes its first flight

Kukes International Airport Zayed. Courtesy: Kukes International Airport

An airport named after the Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, has opened in Albania.

The revamped Kukes International Airport Zayed welcomed its first flight on Sunday with the country's Prime Minister Edi Rama onboard, local media reported.

An Air Albania aircraft flew in from the capital Tirana, 150 kilometres away, to the airport that has been revitalised with the UAE's help.

Kukes, in north-east Albania, first opened in the 1920s but had been chiefly used for military and emergency use.

The UAE established an aid camp there during the Kosovan conflict in the late 1990s, to assist refugees who were streaming into Albania.

Emirati businessman Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emaar Properties, shared pictures of a display dedicated to Sheikh Zayed and the UAE in the terminal.

"Our relations with Albania go back to 1998 when Sheikh Zayed, may his soul rest in peace, sent humanitarian relief to those affected by the Kosovo war, built camps and provided educational and medical aid," Mr Alabbar wrote on Twitter.

The UAE involvement in Kosovo was a humanitarian mission. When the former Yugoslavia broke up in the 1990s, separatist voices grew louder in Kosovo. Serbia responded by attacking the territory's ethnic Albanian population, creating a refugee crisis.

Almost 1,500 Emirati troops would serve in Kosovo over two operations. One was with the Nato-led Kfor peacekeeping force, from the spring of 1999 to late 2001.

The other operation was the White Hands aid mission near Kukes, between March and June 1999.

Refugees fleeing persecution in Kosovo wave UAE flags. The UAE established an aid camp near Kukes, Albania, during the Kosovan conflict in the late 1990s. AP

In an interview with The National in 2019, Emirati Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi recalled the humanitarian relief effort and camp that saw more than 10,000 refugees receive help.

"We opened schools where we brought people from Kosovo to teach," said Maj Gen Al Ketbi. "The camp was open. We had journalists living with us."

Up to 45,000 hot meals were served every day. It was known among other militaries as the “five-star camp”.

"We felt proud hearing that, and Emiratis today should feel the same," Maj Gen Al Ketbi said.

“We are lucky to have a leadership who invested in us to help others. We were not only servicing the refugees but all the people of Albania.

"This was humanitarian assistance, part of the UAE's strategy to help wherever help is needed."

The UAE's role in Kosovo also featured prominently in a 2018 exhibition at Dubai's Etihad Museum that illustrated the UAE's humanitarian missions.

Video footage showed Emirati soldiers on patrol safeguarding the peace and interacting with locals.

In the years after the war, UAE investment was central to the airport's redevelopment, which included a new terminal, a control tower and expansion of the apron and runway.

The naming of the airport after Sheikh Zayed pays tribute to that story.

Kukes International Airport Zayed is designed to serve as Albania's second airport, after Tirana International Airport, and boost tourism in the region.

UAE's humanitarian mission to Kosovo – in pictures

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  Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, joins Emirati officers during a training session in Canjuers, southern France, in July 1999, before their deployment to KFOR in Kosovo. Jack Dabaghian / AFP

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  Emirati troops sit on their tanks on the main bridge separating the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica on February 27, 2000. The UAE soldiers were sent to guard the bridge. Jack Guez / AFP

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  UAE Air Force personnel load neck braces into a helicopter for a flight up to the Kosovar refugee camps in northern Albania on April 25, 1999. Hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving in the camps have injuries. Mike Nelson / AFP

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  Thousands of refugees make their way home across the border from Albania into Kosovo Wednesday on June 16, 1999. There were more than 120,000 refugees in the Kukes area. David Guttenfelder / AP

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  Emirati soldiers sit atop a pillbox reading a map at the Nato humanitarian base at the Tirana Airport April 28, 1999 in Albania. The UAE Air Force flies four helicopter-missions a day to bring aid to Kosovar refugees in northern Albania. Mike Nelson / AFP

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  Kosovar refugees settle in the camp on May 10, 1999. Joel Robine / AFP

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  Two Emirati attack helicopters fly over the countryside bearing the KFOR markings of the Nato-led peacekeeping mission. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi

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  UAE forces begin building a refugee camp in mid-April on muddy ground. Spring in Albanian brought snow, pouring rain and rising temperatures - often in the space of one day. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi

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  The White Hands mission camp was located on low ground surrounded by mountains. The UAE Air Force managed to land a huge C-130 Hercules on a disused old landing strip nearby. “It was not easy to reach but thanks to God we succeeded. It was an amazing effort," Al Ketbi says. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi

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  A young Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed accompanied by a TV crew tours the camp. Also pictured centre right is Obaid Al Ketbi. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi

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  Emirati soldiers pictured at the camp near the town of Kukes, Albania. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi

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  Kosovar children receive back to school kits and backpacks. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi

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  “We would see four seasons [in a day], from cold to hot to warm weather," says Col Yousef Al Harmoudi. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi

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  Supplies arrive by helicopter. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi

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  Refugees queue for food and supplies. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi

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  A young girl waves the UAE flag as refugees prepare to return home from Albania to Kosovo. Courtesy: Maj Gen Obaid Al Ketbi