What’s On The Horizon For: Lithuanian Airports

Speaking during Routes Europe 2025, Lithuanian Airports shared recent route successes, updates on major infrastructure expansions across its airports and key targets for enhanced air connectivity.

Lithuanian Airports (LTOU), which manages Vilnius, Kaunas, and Palanga airports, handled a record 6.6 million passengers in 2024, up nearly 10% from the previous year and surpassing pre-pandemic levels set in 2019.

The airport group added multiple routes and carriers last year. At Vilnius Airport, Aegean Airlines launched a 2X-weekly seasonal service to Athens, while Iceland’s PLAY began a 1X-weekly seasonal route to Reykjavik in April.

Kaunas Airport saw rapid expansion, with Ryanair basing a third aircraft and launching three new routes to Berlin (BER), Pisa (PSA), and Zadar (ZAD). In Palanga, airBaltic introduced a long-anticipated route to Amsterdam. Across the group, capacity growth among legacy carriers has also contributed to network diversification.

Infrastructure upgrades are a cornerstone of LTOU’s long-term strategy. In February 2024, Vilnius Airport opened a new departure terminal that doubled capacity. An arrivals terminal is planned by 2028. At Kaunas, terminal improvements scheduled for completion in late 2025 will also double capacity to 2 million passengers and allow simultaneous handling of six aircraft, supporting up to 15,000 aircraft movements annually.

Tomas Zitikis, head of route development at LTOU, emphasized the value of Routes Europe in supporting the airport group’s growth goals. “As always Routes is an amazing event bringing all the partners, airlines and airports, to talk about connectivity possibilities,” he said. “We've had a lot of productive meetings and hope to announce some news soon.”

LTOU co-exhibited with Travel Lithuania at the event, a move Zitikis said boosted visibility. “The partners know you are here and it's possible to come over to our stand to discover possibilities about bringing passenger flow in and out of Lithuania and cooperate together with our stakeholders,” he added.

Looking ahead, LTOU is focusing on improved European hub connectivity, greater route frequencies, and new point-to-point services. Unserved targets include Geneva, Madrid, Stuttgart and Gothenburg, driven by demand from indirect passenger flows.

The airport group also aims to build on its risk-sharing partnership model, which has already helped secure routes to London City, Lisbon, Hamburg, and Dusseldorf. Long-term ambitions include developing transatlantic services to meet strong local demand.

As a member of Routes 360, LTOU regularly share updates across the route development community and engage directly with potential airline partners ahead of Routes events. View Lithuanian Airports Routes 360 profile here.