Vilnius Airport

Coordinates: 54°38′13″N 025°17′16″E / 54.63694°N 25.28778°E / 54.63694; 25.28778
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Vilnius International Airport

Tarptautinis Vilniaus oro uostas
File:Vilnius International Airport.jpg
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerLithuanian government
OperatorSE "Lithuanian Airports"
ServesVilnius, Lithuania
Hub forairBaltic
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL646 ft / 197 m
Coordinates54°38′13″N 025°17′16″E / 54.63694°N 25.28778°E / 54.63694; 25.28778
Websitevno.lt
Map
VNO is located in Vilnius
VNO
VNO
Location within Vilnius
VNO is located in Lithuania
VNO
VNO
VNO (Lithuania)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
01/19 2,515 8,250 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2019)
Number of passengers5,004,921
Passenger change 18–19Increase1.7%
Aircraft movements47,440
Movements change 18–19Increase0.5%
Cargo (tonnes)13,974
Cargo change 18–19Increase9.4%
Source: Lithuanian Airports, 2020[1]

Vilnius Airport (IATA: VNO, ICAO: EYVI) (Lithuanian: Vilniaus oro uostas) is the international airport of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It is located 5.9 km (3.7 mi) south[2] of the city. It is the largest of the three commercial airports in Lithuania by passenger traffic. With one runway and 5 million passengers a year.[1] Vilnius International Airport serves as a base for airBaltic, Ryanair, and Wizz Air. The airport is managed by state-owned enterprise Lithuanian Airports under the Ministry of Transport and Communications.[3]

History

Early years

The opening of the Warsaw-Vilnius-Riga-Tallinn airline on August 17, 1932

The airport began operations on 17 August 1932 as Wilno–Porubanek, Porubanek was the name of the neighbouring village which today is part of the Kirtimai district of Vilnius. Before World War II, it operated the then-domestic route between Wilno (Vilnius) and Warsaw as well as international route to Riga. Since 15 April 1939, it inaugurated a new route to Kovno (nowadays Kaunas). The airport was used as a military airfield during WWII. The airport resumed its activity as a civil airport as of 17 July 1944.[4]

Recent developments

Lithuanian Airlines (branded later as FlyLAL) was established as the Lithuanian flag carrier following independence in 1991 and inherited the Vilnius-based Aeroflot fleet of Tupolev Tu-134, Yakovlev Yak-40, Yak-42 and Antonov An-24, An-26 aircraft, but rapidly replaced these Soviet-era aircraft types with modern Boeing 737 and Boeing 757 jets and Saab 340, Saab 2000 turboprops. Operations were suspended effective 17 January 2009 as a result of growing financial difficulties. With the collapse of flyLAL, the airport lost its scheduled services to Amsterdam, Budapest, Istanbul, Madrid and Tbilisi. flyLAL used to operate to Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Milan and Paris in competition with Aer Lingus, airBaltic or Lufthansa.[citation needed]

AirBaltic, the national airline of Latvia and under Scandinavian Airlines part-ownership, opened up a second base at Vilnius in 2004 to complement its Riga operation and became the largest carrier at Vilnius, using Boeing 737 jets and Fokker 50 turboprops. At one point, airBaltic operated to 19 destinations from Vilnius but, in 2009, the network covered only three destinations served by two aircraft based at Vilnius.[citation needed]

Vilnius Airport is the main hub for Grand Cru Airlines and a base for Wizz Air. It used to be a main hub for Star1 Airlines until their end of operations in September 2010 and Aurela until Aurela had lost its flight license. It was the hub for Small Planet Airlines and Aviavilsa until both airlines folded. The airport was a secondary hub for airBaltic, Estonian Air and Skyways Express until they closed the bases in Vilnius.[citation needed]

On 30 June 2013, Air Lituanica also began its flights from the Vilnius Airport and established its base there serving several European cities. However, by 22 May 2015, the airline shut down all operations as well.[5]

The airport was closed for 35 days from 14 July 2017 to 17 August 2017 (inclusive) for runway reconstruction work, with all flights diverted to Kaunas Airport.[6][7]

Terminal

Terminal building

The construction of the airport building started in 1949 and completed in 1954.[4] It features a standard 1950s Soviet airport terminal design, originally intended for an airport with up to 20 aircraft movements per day. On the outside, it is decorated with sculptures of soldiers, workers and aviators, while inside walls and ceilings feature wreaths, bay leaves and stars, and until the early 1990s, the Soviet hammer and sickle, typical decor for Soviet public buildings of early post-war years.[citation needed]

A new departure terminal, connected with the old building, was built in 1993.[8] Since then, the old building has been used as the arrival terminal only.[4]

In November 2007, the new 1,000 m2 (11,000 sq ft) terminal building was opened for operations which improved the capacity and facilities of the airport and complies with the requirements of the Schengen agreement. [citation needed] The passenger throughput of the terminal increased, passenger service quality was improved and more stringent aviation security measures were implemented. The new area of the renovated passenger terminal now reaches 3,462 m2 (37,260 sq ft). It is equipped with 6 passenger boarding bridges, modern passenger check-in equipment, new travel value and duty-free shops were opened as well as business lounge and VIP Lounge.[9]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Vilnius:

AirlinesDestinations
airBaltic[10] Amsterdam, Hamburg (resumes 1 May 2023),[11] Munich, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Riga, Tallinn
Seasonal: Berlin,[12] Dubrovnik, Heraklion (begins 4 May 2023),[13] Málaga (begins 2 May 2023),[14] Nice (begins 3 May 2023),[15] Palma de Mallorca (begins 2 May 2023)[16]
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna (resumes 26 March 2023)[17]
Avion Express[18] Seasonal charter: Antalya,[18] Bourgas,[18] Corfu,[18] Catania,[18] Enfidha,[18] Faro,[18] Gazipaşa,[18] Heraklion,[18] Hurghada,[18] Kefalonia,[18] Lamezia Terme,[18] Funchal,[18] Málaga,[18] Palma de Mallorca,[18] Rhodes,[18] Tenerife–South,[18] Tivat,[18] Varna[18]
Brussels Airlines Seasonal: Brussels[19]
Corendon Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
Enter Air[20] Seasonal charter: Funchal, Zanzibar
Finnair Helsinki
Freebird Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
GetJet Airlines[21] Seasonal charter: Antalya,[21] Batumi,[21] Bodrum Airport,[21] Burgas,[21] Corfu,[21] Gazipaşa,[21] Heraklion,[21] Hurghada,[21] Kefalonia,[21] Lamezia Terme,[21] Málaga,[21] Palma de Mallorca,[21] Patras,[21] Rhodes,[21] Salzburg,[21] Sharm El Sheikh,[21] Tenerife–South,[21] Varna[21]
LOT Polish Airlines London–City, Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Norwegian Air Shuttle[22] Bergen (closes 7 January 2023), Oslo, Stockholm–Arlanda
Seasonal: Copenhagen (begins 2 August 2023)[23]
Ryanair[24] Barcelona, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin, Billund, Birmingham, Bremen, Dublin, Eindhoven, Hahn (resumes 26 March 2023), Leeds/Bradford, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Malta, Nuremberg, Oslo, Rome–Fiumicino,[24] Tel Aviv, Treviso, Turin (begins 1 December 2022),[25] Vienna
Seasonal: Athens, Corfu, Gdańsk, Varna (begins 29 March 2023)[24]
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Smartwings Poland[20] Seasonal charter: Kavala, Marsa Alam, Tirana
SunExpress[26] Seasonal: Antalya
Swiss International Air Lines[27] Zürich
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Seasonal: Antalya
Wizz Air[28] Barcelona, Beauvais, Billund, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Kutaisi, Larnaca, London–Luton, Milan–Malpensa, Reykjavik–Keflavik, Sandefjord, Tel Aviv, Yerevan
Seasonal: Athens, Grenoble (begins 7 January 2023),[29] Nice, Split

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
DHL Aviation[30] Leipzig/Halle, Riga
Turkish Cargo[31] Istanbul, Prague

Statistics

Interior of the historic entrance hall
Departures area
Control tower

Passenger traffic

Passengers at Vilnius Airport. See Wikidata query.

"Vilnius airport statistics".

Annual traffic

Annual Passenger Traffic[32]
Year Passengers % Change Change
2022 (Jan-Aug) 2,173,244 - -
2021 1,898,817 Increase 44.68% Increase 585,349
2020 1,312,468 Decrease 73.78% Decrease 3,692,453
2019 5,004,921 Increase 1.7% Increase 81,972
2018 4,922,949 Increase 30.9% Increase 1,161,112
2017 3,761,837 Decrease 1.4% Decrease 52,164
2016 3,814,001 Increase 14.3% Increase 477,917
2015 3,336,084 Increase 13.4% Increase 393,414
2014 2,942,670 Increase 10.6% Increase 280,801
2013 2,661,869 Increase 20.6% Increase 453,773
2012 2,208,096 Increase 28.9% Increase 495,629
2011 1,712,467 Increase 24.7% Increase 338,608
2010 1,373,859 Increase 5.0% Increase 65,227
2009 1,308,632 Decrease 36.1% Decrease 739,807
2008 2,048,439 Increase 19.3% Increase 331,217
2007 1,717,222 Increase 18.3% Increase 265,754
2006 1,451,468 Increase 13.2% Increase 169,596
2005 1,281,872 Increase 33.0% Increase 317,708
2004 964,164 Steady Steady

Busiest routes

Top 20 busiest routes from Vilnius in 2018[33]
Rank Airport Passengers Airlines
1 United Kingdom London 468,000 Ryanair, Wizz Air
2 Germany Frankfurt 276,000 Lufthansa, Ryanair
3 Norway Oslo 261,000 Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Wizz Air
4 Poland Warsaw 253,000 LOT Polish Airlines, Wizz Air
5 Turkey Antalya 245,000 Small Planet Airlines, GetJet Airlines
6 Ukraine Kyiv 229,000 Ukraine International, Wizz Air, Ryanair
7 Latvia Riga 199,000 airBaltic
8 Italy Milan 175,000 Wizz Air, Ryanair
9 Sweden Stockholm 167,000 Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air
10 Russia Moscow 152,000 Aeroflot
11 France Paris 134,000 airBaltic, Ryanair, Wizz Air
12 Denmark Copenhagen 114,000 Scandinavian Airlines
13 Finland Helsinki 110,000 Finnair
14 Belgium Brussels 98,000 Brussels Airlines
15 Spain Barcelona 93,000 Wizz Air, Ryanair
16 Estonia Tallinn 91,000 Nordica, airBaltic
17 Germany Berlin 84,000 airBaltic
18 Turkey Istanbul 83,000 Turkish Airlines
19 Italy Rome 82,000 Wizz Air, Ryanair
20 Egypt Hurghada 68,000 Small Planet Airlines, GetJet Airlines

Most frequent routes

Top 10 most frequent routes from Vilnius as of August 2022[34]
Rank City Flights per week
1 Poland Warsaw Chopin ~28
2 Latvia Riga ~25
3 Finland Helsinki ~21
4 Sweden Stockholm Arlanda ~16
5 United Kingdom London Luton ~14
6 Denmark Copenhagen ~13
7 Estonia Tallinn ~11
8 Norway Oslo Gardermoen ~10
9 Turkey Istanbul ~10
10 Germany Frankfurt ~10

Ground transportation

Vilnius airport railway station
The bus connecting the airport with Vilnius

Train

Direct train services between Vilnius Airport Railway Station (referred to as "Oro uostas" in the schedules) and the central station of Vilnius were started in October 2008. Distance from the Airport to the Central Railway Station is 4.3 kilometres (2.7 mi), the journey takes 7 minutes.

Bus

The direct intercity express services operate from the Airport to Klaipėda, Palanga, Minsk and Daugavpils. Also, the Latvian company Flybus.lv operates service from Vilnius airport to Riga (via Panevėžys and Bauska).[35]

Public transportation

City's buses operate from the airport. Also, the company Toks transports passengers from the bus station to Vilnius airport and back by microbuses.[35]

Aviation services

Passenger handling, aircraft handling, into-plane fueling and de-icing/anti-icing services are handled by BGS and Litcargus.[36]

Incidents and accidents

  • Scandinavian Airlines Flight 2748, operated with Dash-8-400 (LN-RDS) with 48 passengers and 4 crew members, took off from Copenhagen Airport on 12 September 2007. It was heading to Palanga, Lithuania, but was diverted to Vilnius Airport (better suited for an emergency landing) when landing gear problems were discovered before landing. Upon touchdown, the right landing gear collapsed. All passengers and crew were evacuated safely. The local officials at the Vilnius International Airport noted that this was the most serious incident in recent years. This accident, along with the Aalborg accident just days earlier, caused all SAS Dash 8 Q400 planes to be grounded until the beginning of October.
  • On 23 May 2021, Ryanair Flight 4978, operated using a Boeing 737-8AS with 171 passengers on board, traveling in Belarusian airspace en route from Athens to Vilnius, was intercepted by a Belarusian MiG-29 before it could reach Lithuanian airspace. It was then forced to land at Minsk National Airport. Upon landing, the Belarusian KGB arrested two of the passengers, opposition activist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega. The other passengers were allowed to reboard the plane to depart for Vilnius after seven hours.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "VNO". www.ltou.lt. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. ^ "EAD Basic". Ead.eurocontrol.int. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Institutions and Enterprises under the Regulation of the Ministry". sumin.lrv.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Vilnius International Airport - Istorija". www.vilnius-airport.lt. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Air Lituanica ceases operations". ch-aviation. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Reconstruction of the runway of Vilnius Airport". Vilnius Airport.
  7. ^ "Vilnius Airport to be closed for a renovation until Aug. 17". The Seattle Times. 13 July 2017.
  8. ^ iVilnius.lt. "By plane | How to arrive | Learn | iVilnius - Vilnius city guide". iVilnius - Vilnius city guide. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  9. ^ "Vilnius Airport will have a new passenger terminal". sumin.lrv.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Riga to Vilnius". fly.airbaltic.com. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  11. ^ "airBaltic NS23 Network Adjustment – 28SEP22". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  12. ^ "AirBaltic NW22 Network Changes – 04SEP22".
  13. ^ "Air Baltic verbindet Hannover mit Riga". 28 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Air Baltic verbindet Hannover mit Riga". 28 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Air Baltic verbindet Hannover mit Riga". 28 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Air Baltic verbindet Hannover mit Riga". 28 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Austrian Airlines opens seven new destinations next summer". Austrian Airlines. 9 November 2022. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Novaturas Flights en". Novaturas flights. 29 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Brussels Airlines to suspend Vilnius-Brussels flights during winter season". 15 September 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Our directions". itaka.lt.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Tez Tour užsakomųjų skrydžių bilietai". 4 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Flights from Vilnius". Norwegian. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ "Summer 2023: Norwegian launches more than twenty new routes from Denmark and Norway". 17 November 2022.
  24. ^ a b c "Ryanair". www.ryanair.com. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  25. ^ ""Ryanair" skelbia naują kryptį: Iš Vilniaus skraidys į Turiną". 8 June 2022.
  26. ^ "SunExpress to launch 3 new destinations to Baltics - Latest News".
  27. ^ "Swiss expands network for summer 2022".
  28. ^ "WIZZ – Dream more. Live more. Be more".
  29. ^ "WIZZ – Dream more. Live more. Be more".
  30. ^ "European Air Transport Leipzig". DHL. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ^ "Flight Schedule". www.turkishcargo.com.tr. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  32. ^ "VNO". www.ltou.lt. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  33. ^ "Simonas Bartkus | Blog » Populiariausios kryptys 2018 m. – rekordiniais Vilniaus oro uosto metais". Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  34. ^ Flightradar24. "Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map". Flightradar24. Retrieved 30 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ a b "Vilnius International Airport - Train / Bus". vno.lt. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  36. ^ "European Ground Handling". Airline Ground Services. Retrieved 20 June 2019.

External links

Media related to Vilnius International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vilnius_Airport&oldid=1123307727"