Did not fly; the air corps’ few aircraft had never entered full service.

King Zog’s kingdom created an air corps under the army after 1928 and bought five Albatros C.XV/L.47 aircraft, but according to Wikipedia they were never put into full service. When Italy invaded between 7 and 12 April 1939 it committed about 400 aircraft, and on 6 April 100 Italian aircraft had dropped leaflets over Tirana, Durrës and Vlorë. Wikipedia’s invasion article credits Albania with five aircraft and records no Albanian air activity. The corps disappeared with the kingdom. It is a reminder that Albanian military aviation really begins in 1951, not 1928.

Resultado Albania was occupied within five days and the air corps was abolished.

Casualty figures for the invasion differ widely between sources. No Albanian air combat is recorded.

Voando para

Royal Albanian Air Corps

Onde

Albânia

Ao lado de

Sem força aérea aliada

Contra

Itália

Aeronave

Albatros C.XV/L.47

Missões

0No Albanian air operations are recorded.

Perdas

The fate of the five Albanian aircraft was not found in the sources checked. Albanian losses in the invasion are estimated at about 160 killed; Italian figures range from 12–25 (Italian claims) to possibly 700.

Fontes

Wikipédia · Wikipédia · Ministria e Mbrojtjes

No combat flying is recorded; the air force lost control of its bases as the armed forces disintegrated.

The collapse of pyramid investment schemes in early 1997 turned into an armed uprising in the south. According to Wikipedia, on 4 March two air force pilots flew their aircraft to Italy, saying they had been ordered to attack civilians; their account was not checked against an official Albanian source. The government’s attempt to use the army failed and, in Wikipedia’s words, the forces disintegrated while civilians looted military sites; UNDP figures cited there speak of about 656,000 weapons taken from depots. Rebels took Kuçovë with 19 MiGs on 10 March. At Gjadër the control tower and other buildings were destroyed on 12 March and the military abandoned the base on 16 March. The damage finished an air force that was already short of spares and fuel; within eight years every jet was grounded.

Resultado The armed forces disintegrated; an Italian-led multinational force (Operation Alba, 15 April–11 August) restored order. Jet flying at Gjadër ended by 2000.

The number of aircraft destroyed (seven) and seized (19) come from two different Wikipedia articles and may count different things. The pilots’ names and aircraft types were not confirmed.

Voando para

Força Aérea Albanesa

Onde

Albânia

Ao lado de

Sem força aérea aliada

Aeronave

Shenyang F-6, Chengdu F-7A, MiG-15/F-5 trainers, Helicopters

Missões

Not applicable; no air operations against the uprising are recorded in the sources checked.

Perdas

Wikipedia’s air force article says seven aircraft were destroyed; its article on the unrest says rebels seized 19 MiGs at Kuçovë on 10 March. Two aircraft were flown to Italy on 4 March. Estimates of deaths in the whole unrest range from about 1,600 (Fred Abrahams) to 2,000 or more (IMF, UNIDIR).

Fontes

Wikipédia · Wikipédia · Wikipédia · Wikipédia

Did not fly combat missions; Albania made Tirana airfield available to the US Army’s Task Force Hawk.

During NATO’s air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 24 March to June 1999, Albania, not yet a NATO member, served as a host nation while Kosovar refugees crossed its border in large numbers. The US Army’s Task Force Hawk deployed to Rinas, Tirana’s airport, from 5 April to 24 June with AH-64 Apaches, refuelling sites and rocket artillery; it never fired a round in combat and is remembered, in Wikipedia’s words, as both one of the largest blunders and largest successes of the US military. The Albanian Air Force itself had no modern aircraft to offer and flew no missions. The Yugoslav government stated its losses as 1,008 soldiers and police killed; Human Rights Watch counted 489–528 civilian deaths from the bombing. Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence; many states do.

Resultado Yugoslav forces withdrew from Kosovo in June 1999; Task Force Hawk left in late June.

Listed for completeness: the Albanian Air Force did not take part. Figures are attributed to the Yugoslav government and Human Rights Watch as quoted by Wikipedia.

Voando para

Albanian Air Force (host nation only)

Onde

Albania, Kosovo and the rest of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Ao lado de

OTAN

Missões

0No Albanian sorties; the Apache task force at Tirana never fired in combat.

Perdas

0 aeronaves · 0 mortosNo Albanian losses recorded. Two US Apaches crashed in Albania: one on 26 April (crew slightly injured) and one on 5 May, killing Chief Warrant Officers David Gibbs and Kevin Reichert.

Fontes

Wikipédia · Wikipédia