The 13th edition of "Albania Open Air"/ The final is held in Korça

2024-12-20 21:15:00, Qyteti im CNA

The 13th edition of "Albania Open Air"/ The final is held in

"Albania Open Air" is the most important event organized in Albania for the wonderful sport of parachuting. After the tour in several cities of Albania, the super final was decided to be held in the village of Lumalas, in the area of ??the airport.

Today, CNA TV followed the preparation and the competition of the participants, who flew with parachutes, where they had the opportunity to see from above the fantastic panorama of Korça and its surroundings.

Jhonatan Islami, the well-known sportsman, tells CNA TV about the organization of this next edition, emphasizing that the first competition was in 2000 in Korça and since that year it has been returned to this city. Jonathan says that Korça is one of the favorite destinations for pilots, while the interest this year has been even higher.

"We are Korça Open Air, it is the 13th year that we have chosen Korça to organize the final of the Albania-Kosovo National Championship. There have been breaks between each other, so the first competition that was organized in Korça was in 2000 and since then, with a few breaks in between, we have reached the 13th year that we have been organizing it. Korça is one of the most popular destinations for pilots in the region. In recent years, we see that there is an extraordinary interest from pilots in Europe, but also more widely. This pushes us even more to organize 'Korça Open Air' every year, turning it into a 'brand' of annual and very important part of the flight calendar of the Albanian Federation."

The 13th edition of "Albania Open Air"/ The final is held in

Among other things, Jhonatani shows the reason why Lumalasi was chosen with the track arranged by the municipality, making it possible to hold the drag race, unlike the heights of Mount Morava or the surrounding hills.

"In this edition we have 42 participants, racers, pilots, professionals of course. We chose Lumalasi because since Lumalasi is an innovation in the aviation sector, it gives us an extraordinary opportunity with its entire runway arranged by the municipality, to have opportunity to run the race here with a very special way. We don't start from the heights as we usually do from Morava or the surrounding hills, but we are pulled from the field by means of a car and a device that is placed in the back, we reach quota required for the race and then we are released to capture the points. This is an innovation not only for Korça but in the entire Albanian championship. We are returning the races this way, since it is closer with the public and from the technical side. I am very glad that Korça is turning its attention to aviation and air sports, activating this aerodrome and I hope it will be a good step for the future to have as many activities as possible. "

The 13th edition of "Albania Open Air"/ The final is held in

Even for the president of Albanian Aeronautics, Alket Islam, this return to Lumalas is full of emotions because 25 years ago an air show was organized, while this year they are returning with a real competition. The novelty of this edition is the drag track with a motor and cable car, while there are also young people from Belgium who participate for the first time in this competition.

"I return with excitement to Lumalas, to Lumalas airport because the 'Albanian Open' of 2000 started here. It takes place in Vlora, but we did this event for the first time in Korça. 25 years ago we did not have a competition, it was just an air show, while here we return with a real race, where for the first time we will not use the mountains, i.e. Morava for flight, but we have the runway directly in towing with a cable, with a motor.

The 13th edition of "Albania Open Air"/ The final is held in

This is the novelty, the race is very strong because it is called the Super Final of the National Championship and it is the 'Korça Open Air', the 13th edition, where in addition to all the pilots who have come and returned we also have young people from Belgium who for us it is a novelty, it is also PR for the city. The participants are satisfied because the fact that we want to present the videos for Korça after 2 years. To get a world championship here shows that to get the goal you have to have a series of results and obligations. Korça fulfills both hotels and distances from the place of flight to accommodation, hospitality and all the other services they have.

Since yesterday, the "Korça Open Air" has started in Lumalas, with the participation of more than 40 participants from different countries of the world. The next day, the prize distribution will be held near the old bazaar of Korça, where the participants and those who stood out in this edition will be honored and appreciated./ CNA