Routes speaks to Aurimas Stikliūnas, the head of Aviation Services at Lithuanian Airports, about how the coronavirus crisis has affected Vilnius Airport (VNO) and what is being done to re-stimulate demand.
The budget carrier has served the Lithuanian market for over ten years, initially with a London Stansted – Kaunus operation. It first introduced flights into Vilnius in May 2011 when it debuted services from Bergamo, Bremen, Dublin, Girona, London Stansted and Rome Ciampino. Its expanded offering will mean it will be providing over 3,000 seats per day into the Lithuanian market from the coming winter schedule.
After the merger of Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga Airports last year, the Lithuanian air gateways have witnessed a significant increase in passenger and flight volumes, sales and overall net profit over a year-long period.
The regional airline closed its doors at 12:00 Noon on May 22, 2015 after operating flights that morning between Vilnius and Amsterdam, Paris and Tallinn. It is the latest in a long line of airline failures in Lithuania, which is proving to be among Europe’s most difficult country markets to serve.
The Lithuanian airport network has undergone a dramatic change, and is subsequently on the rise. Jurate Baltrusaityte, Chief Commercial Officer, Enterprise Lithuanian Airports, gave Routes delegates an insight into the future of the Lithuanian airport network, at the Routes Europe Strategy Summit.
