Edi Rama gives a speech at the Knesset in Israel. Photo: Edi Rama/Facebook.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama used a private aircraft allegedly once owned by a controversial cryptocurrency guru as he headed off to Israel for a three-day visit in late January, BIRN has learned.
Data from the Flightradar24 application shows that the Bombardier Global 5000 aircraft departed from Tirana airport on January 25, at 10.53 a.m. and arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv at 1.55 p.m. The same aircraft flew back to Tirana on January 27. Immediately after the plane landed, Rama’s escort was seen leaving the VIP terminal.
Asked by BIRN, Rama defended using a private jet to go to Israel, citing security issues.
“Travel to Israel has had understandable security elements and transportation has been part of these elements,” Rama’s spokesperson said. “The expenses were not covered by the Albanian government,” he added – without specifying who did cover them.
The Israeli government did not respond to BIRN’s questions about whether it paid for Rama’s flights to Tel Aviv and back by time of publication.
Rama has been often criticised over his use of private jets, with civil society organisations questioning the transparency of using public spending for his transportation.
Since Albania took the OSCE Chairmanship for 2020, Rama has used an Air Albania aircraft for official trips, benefiting from a framework contract priced at cost per flight hour. A request by the opposition Democratic Party for a parliamentary inquiry into the Prime Minister’s expenditures was rejected by the Socialist majority in 2023.
In October 2025, the Albanian government decided to declare data on Rama’s and other senior officials’ trips abroad secret, arguing that this was needed to protect personal data.
“From that moment on, citizens have lost the right to know by what means, at what cost, or with what entourage the Prime Minister travels,” Rigels Xhemollari, director of the Tirana-based anti-corruption think tank Citizens Resistance, said.
“When a senior official travels with public funds, he has an obligation to at least publish the costs and travel contracts. The fact that the Prime Minister does not do this means, at a minimum, the concealment of costs, and at a maximum, abuse of office,” he added.
Data on the current owner of the Bombardier Global 5000 jet with the number “N410AT”, registered at the US-based Federal Administration of Aviation, is anonymised. But the plane is known to have been previously seized as part of a US court order against Sam Bankman Fried, following the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which he founded.
During his visit to Israel, Rama met his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant from the International Criminal Tribunal for allegedly committing war crimes in Gaza. Netanyahu also faces domestic corruption allegations. He has denied both charges.
On the same day, the Albanian Prime Minister addressed the Israeli parliament, where he emphasised the historical ties between the two peoples, including the assistance that Albanians provided to Jewish people during World War II.
Pro-government media in Tirana declared his speech “historic”. But some critics accused Rama of belittling the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza by failing to criticise the violence inflicted on them by Israeli forces.