The construction of what is set to become Albania's third and biggest airport is threatening the delicate habitat of Europe's most spectacular sanctuaries for giant birds, according to conservationists.  

The Albanian government said the new airport on the beautiful Viose-Narte Lagoon, a protected area which hosts over 130 protected species and many endangered ones, will boost tourism along the country's Adriatic coast, and insists that the project isn't in breach of environmental laws. 

"We have respected every step, every timeline and every procedure of the Albanian law, whether that is for the public consultations or how it will impact the environment," said Tourism and Environment Minister Mirela Kumbaro.

But biodiversity and environmental experts have expressed their concerns since the project was first announced in September 2019. 

The Viose-Narte lagoon is a crucial stop in Europe for migratory birds traveling between the continent and Africa, and for eager birdwatchers it's the best place in Europe to see flocks of pink flamingos take flight.

"If the airport is built, this beauty will be gone," said Mirjan Topi, an ornithologist from the group Birds of Albania.

The lagoon is home to over 200 species, among which is 1.5 percent of the entire global population of Dalmatian pelicans, one of the world's largest flying birds and an animal at risk of extinction.

In February last year, 36 local and international environmental organizations wrote an open letter to Albania's prime minister Edi Rama to warn him that construction for the new airport will cause "irreversible damage to the ecosystem of the Vjosa-Narte Protected Landscape," destroying the natural value of the area. 

But the project went ahead, with construction works starting in November. 

Local ornithologists are already reporting that pelicans and flamingos are abandoning the lagoon, scared away by the noise of trucks and excavators.

There's a danger for humans too: flamingos, pelicans, herons and sea gulls are big enough birds that a collision with a plane would create real damage to the aircraft (and of course, the bird).

The airport's builders responded to the concerns, claiming that planes won't be in the flight path of the birds. 

The airport's "flight plan, predicted take-off and landing, does not affect the birds' pathway", Valon Lluka, who runs the project for Mabetex, the Swiss-based firm leading its construction, told Reuters in an email.

The runway is around 3.5 km from the bird shelter and 5 km away from the main bird migration routes along the coast, Lluka said. 

Some have argued that as the site was the base for a military airport in the 1990s, a new airport won't disrupt the current environment.