We have painted the tail of our plane with the flag of Kosovo. We are very proud of the work that has been done, and are very happy to say that the identity of our aircraft and the identity of Kosovo have become one and the same. After the plane was painted, James hand washed every inch of the aircraft from the nose to the tail, and while doing this he was asked “The plane is going to be exposed to many elements during your trip, how do you intend to keep it clean?” James looked at the freshly painted flag of Kosovo, and with a glimmer in his eye he responded:

“Though I will not have time to wash the entire aircraft every time I land, I will always wash the flag and make sure that it shines bright enough for the whole world to see. Because when I see the colors of Kosova I don’t just see a flag, I see the mountains, the rivers, and the people of my country. When I see my flag I remember people of the past who have fought so hard and died for my country, and I think of the future of our children who deserve happiness and should never have to experience fear and uncertainty for standing on the ground they were born on. This flag is so much more than just paint, the image represents something so profound for so many people and while I am alive I will never let it become clouded with dirt.”

-James Berisha

The aircraft is currently undergoing maintenance and an annual inspection to make sure she is airworthy and prepared for the task she is about to be given.  There will be a few more modifications to the exterior appearance of the aircraft in order to compliment the flag and state James’ purpose in this journey.  On both sides of the aircraft we plan on putting the words “Please recognize Kosovo’s Independence!” in English and in Spanish, if you have any suggestions as to the wording of that phrase feel free to send an email to james.berisha@flyingforkosovo.com and let us know, we will consider your suggestion. We will have more updates for you soon, so please check back often.

[View with PicLens]

James Berisha and Mike Bach take off in a Learjet 35

This video was taken on March 6th 2009 from San Diego, California, en route to Tucson, Arizona, and then to Calgary, Canada.

Flight PKW551. First leg was 45 minutes, and then from Tucson to Calgary was 2hrs 30minutes. Weather was great that day, we had a tail wind, and we were doing about 600 miles per hour airspeed. Our cruising altitude was about 38,000ft.

An interesting note, that same day it seemed like we had seen three seasons. In San Diego it was like spring, in Tucson it felt like autumn, and in Canada there was still lots of snow and a temp of -15C.

Es el embajador ‘no oficial’ de Kosovo

by: Iván Alejandro Rodríguez
El Diario de El Paso

Unofficial Ambassador of Kosovo

El Paso—Haber viajado por más de diez años alrededor de todo México, fue para un hombre que terminó huyendo de su país un motivo para ‘enamorarse’ a tal grado que inclusive encontró a su pareja.

Sin embargo, las relaciones políticas que se comparten con la nación donde nació –Kosovo– le entristece y le decepciona,  principalmente porque el país del que se enamoró y ahora llama su tierra, no reconoce a su lugar de origen como una entidad independiente por los conflictos que se han generado desde que era considerado parte de Yugoslavia.

Este es el caso del ahora paseño James Berisha, quien desde 1996 ha viajado por los cielos de México y otros países después de obtener su licencia de piloto en Suiza y de haberse mudado hacia los Estados Unidos para aprender inglés y desarrollar su profesión.

“Es impresionante y a la vez triste que un país tan maravilloso como éste no considere a Kosovo como una república independiente y esto puede ser tanto por ignorancia como por las relaciones políticas que hay con Serbia, con quienes ha habido un terrible conflicto por varios años”, dijo Berisha quien ha conocido varias ciudades mexicanas incluyendo Chihuahua y Ciudad Juárez.

Berisha quien habla cinco idiomas (entre éstos un poco de español), expresa su interés de dar a conocer en México el sufrimiento y dificultad por la que pasó la gente en Kosovo, haciendo una similitud con la violencia que sucede en Ciudad Juárez y otras ciudades invadidas por la guerra de narcotráfico.

“Los mexicanos al igual que yo en su momento, viven con miedos, con temor y se sienten vulnerables ante el gobierno en esta terrible situación. Yo quiero decirles que Kosovo pasó por una situación similar por lo que me gustaría que México escuchara una perspectiva humana de lo que viví”, agregó James, cuyo nombre original era Milazim antes de mudarse hacia los Estados Unidos para estudiar inglés.

Y es que datos de la página Web www.kosovothanksyou.com indica que la república contaba hasta ayer con 357 días de edad ya que pudo declarar su independencia desde el pasado 17 de febrero del 2008 y que sólo 55 países de los 192 miembros de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas lo han reconocido hasta hoy.

No obstante, información de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores de México indica en un comunicado del 20 de abril de ese mismo año que había amplificado sus relaciones con Serbia.

“En Serbia, el funcionario mexicano copresidió los trabajos de la II Reunión del Mecanismo de Consultas Políticas entre Cancillerías México-Serbia, lo que permitió reactivar el diálogo político con ese país. Las partes hicieron una exhaustiva revisión del estado que guarda la relación bilateral, e intercambiaron puntos de vista sobre posibles mecanismos para fortalecer la cooperación bilateral en todos los ámbitos”, indica el comunicado.

Esto significa que México ha tenido un profundo interés por realizar comercio bilateral con esta nación (la cual se encuentra el Norte y Oeste de lo que algunos incluyendo a los Estados Unidos consideran Kosovo).

“Asimismo, el Director General para Europa sostuvo encuentros con funcionarios de la Oficina del Primer Ministro y del Ministerio de Economía y Desarrollo Regional de Serbia, a quienes propuso trabajar conjuntamente para incrementar el comercio bilateral e identificar alternativas de inversión en los dos países”, continúa.

Por lo tanto James enfatiza su punto de vista humanitario y no tanto el político, ya que asegura provenir de una cultura sumisa y trabajadora, la cual se preocupa por la intensidad humanitaria y familiar de una comunidad. “A mi padre lo mataron por cuestiones políticas. Yo por mí, quitaría los muros que ha hecho Estados Unidos, facilitaría los trayectos de Ciudad Juárez hacia El Paso, creo que me he logrado identificar con la cultura juarense debido a que hay una gran similitud con la mía”, dijo el ex director de hoteles en Suiza.

Según él, la comida picante, la gente humilde y la hermandad de la ciudad fronteriza son similitudes de lo que ahora llama ‘casa’.

“Viajo seguido de Juárez a El Paso con mi novia, vamos a restaurantes y disfrutamos de la binacionalidad en la que se encuentra esta región”, agregó James hablando unas palabras en español, unas en inglés y otras en francés.

La cultura de su país de origen acostumbra a hablar dos lenguajes, asegura, por lo que no le sorprende que las personas en Ciudad Juárez hablen el inglés y viceversa.

“Así como mi novia visita y habla con su familia, yo hago lo mismo en Kosovo, el idioma en que lo haga no importa, lo que es esencial más bien es demostrar amor por ellos”, concluyó.

There are some people in the world who don’t think Kosovo is so special. Because it is such a small country, some people think that there can’t be much to see there. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Kosova is full of beauty, and this gallery is now in place in order to shed some light on that beauty for the rest of the world to see.

If you have any photos you would like to submit, please send them to james.berisha@flyingforkosovo.com, and I will consider posting them here. A very special “thank you!” to Asdren Rrahmani for providing Flying for Kosovo with the first images to get this gallery started.

[View with PicLens]

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Our good friend Sokol Ymeri is a big fan of aviation, and he has sent us some of his photography work. Many of Sokol’s pictures are taken behind the scenes and security checkpoints where the public usually isn’t allowed to go, and so these pictures offer us a unique perspective of the aviation industry from the inside. Thank you Sokol!

[View with PicLens]

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We would like to thank our friends at Gazeta Express for publishing an article about us.  It is the first major online news publication in Albanian that we know of, you can read it directly from their website [HERE]

Me aeroplan për njohjen e Pavarësisë

Nga Express  më 08.03.2009 në ora 12:03

James Piloting a Learjet

Një banor i El Paso, dhe pilot me prejardhje kosovare planifikon të fluturojë përmes pjesës më të madhe të Amerikën Qendrore dhe Jugore, me qëllim që të fitojë njohjen e së fundme të pavarësisë së Kosovës nga Serbia, udhëtim ky i parashikuar për muajin mars. Kjo është forma që ka zgjedhur James Berisha, kosovari i cili ka kryer shkollimin për drejtimin e aeroplanëve.

James Berisha, 37-vjeçar nga Brestovci, është duke planifikuar që të udhëtojë me aeroplanin e tij nga El Paso në Teksas në muajin mars dhe të vizitojë më shumë se 30 shtete për të mbledhur përkrahjen për pavarësinë e Kosovës, e cila zyrtarisht u bë shtet i pavarur në muajin shkurt 2008. Ambasada e Kosovës është hapur në Uashington, para disa muajsh, kurse lobimi për njohjen e shtetit më të ri po vazhdojnë.

“Dua që t’i falënderoj këto shtete të cilat e njohën pavarësinë tonë”, tha Berisha përderisa shpjegonte se si “do të përpiqet që t’iu jap fund stereotipave raciale”, për të cilët tha që ende janë bazë për shumë njerëz në perceptimin e shtetit.

Ky udhëtim 2-3 javësh momentalisht financohet nga vetë Berisha i cili tha se “është i brishtë dhe do të donte të kishte më shumë fondacione”.

Megjithatë, ai shpjegoi se beneficionet e përgjithshme për Kosovën do t’i tejkalojnë të gjitha shpenzimet.

Berisha, një ambasador jozyrtar i Kosovës do ta përfundojë udhëtimin e vet duke ateruar në Florida. Pas udhëtimit Berisha tha s planifikon të kthehet në Kosovë dhe të hapë një shkollë fluturimi me Oficerin ekzekutiv për Fluturim për Kosovën, Howard West, 21 të El Paso, Teksas.
Berisha i cili momentalisht po punon si pilot për Sierra West Airlines, u shpërngul nga Florida në El Paso në vitin 2004, 7 vjet pasi që diplomoi në Akademinë për Fluturime të Sigurta në Vero Beach, Florida.

Kosova shpalli pavarësinë nga Serbia në muajin shkurt 2008 me ndërmjetësim dhe përkrahje të popujve perëndimor. Deri më tani Kosova është njohur nga 55 shtete prej gjithsejtë192 të OKB. (Flyingforkosovo)

To all friends and supporters of this website, I thank you very kindly for your emails, comments, feedback, and donations. As you all are aware, we have celebrated a very important milestone this year with the one year anniversary of Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence. We at flying for Kosovo are nearing the end of our planning stage for James’ trip through all of Central and South America, and we have some great news for you today.

This week we have acquired our aircraft! It is a Cessna 172. It can seat four people, and has a range of approximately 620 miles. In the coming week we plan on making some changes to the paint scheme so that when they see James coming down from the sky he will instantly be recognized as an emissary of Kosovo.  We have more content we are working on uploading to the site so check back often.  Updates will be happening very frequently in the next couple of weeks.

“It seems to me that I have lived all of my life in preparation for this moment.  My morale is good, nothing can stop my flight.”

-James Berisha

James standing next to the aircraft he will soon use to embark on his journey.

When you’re dealing with aircraft and travel, you’re bound to have some very heavy expenses. We are working with very limited funding, and are relying heavily on the help of the people who want to see us fulfill our mission. If you or anyone you know would like to contribute to our cause, either through donation, resources, or otherwise, please send an email to: james.berisha@flyingforkosovo.com

Thank you!

Switzerland

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Kosovo

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Pro Credit Bank
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