Exhibit 99.1

                 Albany International Announces Stock Purchase


    ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Albany International Corp.
(NYSE/PSE/FWB: AIN) announced today that it had purchased 1,489,943 shares of
its Class A Common Stock in a private transaction.  The purchase was made at
$28.87 per share, $1.05 per share less than the last reported trade on the New
York Stock Exchange prior to the time of the transaction.  The Company stated
that the authorization given by the Board of Directors for this purchase is
separate from the three-million-share authorization given in 1998, and that
management retains authority to purchase 553,100 shares under that
authorization.

    The shares acquired in the private transaction were purchased from trusts
related to the Purdy family.  Bruce B. Purdy, a trustee of the selling trusts,
is the father of Barbara P. Wright, a director of the Company.  A spokesman
for the Purdy family said that the sale resulted from family considerations
and did not reflect any lack of confidence in the future of the Company or in
its management.

    Albany International is the world's largest producer of paper machine
clothing and high-performance doors with manufacturing plants strategically
located to serve its customers throughout the world.  Additional information
about the Company and its businesses and products is available at
http://www.albint.com.



SOURCE  Albany International Corp.
    -0-                             08/02/2004
    /CONTACT:  Kenneth C. Pulver, Vice President-Corporate Communications,
+1-518-445-2214/
    /Web site:  http://www.albint.com/
    (AIN)

CO:  Albany International Corp.
ST:  New York
IN:  MAC
SU:  TNM