Vilnius International Airport

Vilnius International Airport
Vilnius International Airport; Tarptautinis Vilniaus oro uostas
IATA: VNO – ICAO: EYVI
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Lithuanian government
Operator	Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania
Location	Vilnius
Hub for	Aurela; Aviavilsa; Small Planet Airlines; Wizz Air; Skyways Express;
Elevation AMSL	646 ft / 197 m
Coordinates	54°38′13″N 025°17′16″E / 54.63694°N 25.28778°ECoordinates: 54°38′13″N 025°17′16″E / 54.63694°N 25.28778°E
Website	www.vilnius-airport.lt
Map
	VNO Location within Lithuania
Runways
Statistics (2011)
Number of Passengers	1,712,467
Aircraft movements	27,703
	Source: Lithuanian AIP at EUROCONTROL

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Vilnius International Airport (IATA: VNO, ICAO: EYVI) (Lithuanian: Tarptautinis Vilniaus oro uostas) is the largest civil airport in Lithuania. It is located 5.9 km (3.7 mi) south^[1] of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It began operations in 1944. The old terminal was built in 1954.

[edit] History

The present-day Vilnius International Airport is a state owned enterprise under the Ministry of Transport and Communications. It is the largest of the four major airports in Lithuania by passenger traffic.

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.

AirBaltic, the national airline of Latvia and under SAS 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 F50 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.

Another carrier with a base at the airport is Aurela Airlines with a fleet of two Boeing 737 and two Boeing 757 jets, specialising in business charter operations and holiday charter flights to African, Asian, and European resort destinations.

Vilnius International Airport is the main hub for Aurela, Small Planet Airlines, and Aviavilsa and secondary hub for Wizz Air and Skyways Express. It used to be a main hub for Star1 Airlines until their end of operations in September 2010. And it used to be a secondary hub for airBaltic and Estonian Air until they closed the bases in Vilnius.

[edit] Terminal

Expanded passenger terminal

The airport is notable for its 1950s arrivals terminal building. It is a standard 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 recently, the Soviet hammer and sickle, typical decor for Soviet public buildings of early post-war years.

In November 2007, the new 17,000 m² (180,000 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. 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 37,462 m² (403,240 sq ft). It is equipped with 6 passenger boarding bridges, modern passenger check-in equipment, travel value & duty free shops were opened as well as business lounge and VIP Lounge.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Aer Lingus	Dublin
Aeroflot	Moscow-Sheremetyevo [begins 25 March]
Aerosvit Airlines operated by Cimber Sterling	Kiev-Boryspil
AirBaltic	Riga
Ak Bars Aero	St. Petersburg [begins 26 March]
Austrian Airlines operated by Tyrolean Airways	Vienna
Brussels Airlines	Brussels
Czech Airlines	Prague
Estonian Air	Tallinn
Finnair	Helsinki
Finnair operated by Flybe Nordic	Helsinki
Iceland Express operated by Holidays Czech Airlines	Reykjavík-Keflavík [begins 26 June]
LOT Polish Airlines operated by EuroLOT	Warsaw-Chopin
Lufthansa	Frankfurt
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Oslo-Gardermoen
Ryanair	Barcelona, Bremen, Dublin, Karlsruhe/Baden Baden [begins 27 March], London-Stansted, Milan-Orio al Serio, Paris-Beauvais [begins 27 March], Rome-Ciampino
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen
Skyways operated by Cimber Sterling	Stockholm-Arlanda
Small Planet Airlines	Almaty [begins 27 April]
Sun d'Or operated by El Al Israel	Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion [begins 20 June]
Transaero	Moscow-Domodedovo
UTair Aviation	Moscow-Vnukovo
Wizz Air	Barcelona, Bergen [begins 27 May], Cork, Doncaster-Sheffield, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Liverpool [begins 28 May], London-Luton, Milan-Orio al Serio, Stavanger [begins 27 May], Oslo-Torp [begins 27 May], Paris-Beauvais [begins 28 May], Rome-Fiumicino

[edit] Charter flights

Airlines	Destinations
Air Malta	Seasonal: Malta
Aurela	Seasonal: Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Antalya, Dubai, Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Kiev, Malé, Moscow, Nouadhibou, Riga, Sharm el-Sheikh, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tallinn.
Bulgaria Air	Seasonal: Varna
Nouvelair
Small Planet Airlines	Seasonal: Antalya, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Barcelona, Bergamo, Bodrum, Dalaman, Gran Canaria, Heraklion, Hurghada, Malaga, Marsa Alam, Monastir, Rhodes, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes, Salzburg. Sharm el-Sheikh, Simferopol, Taba, Tenerife-South, Varna
SmartLynx Airlines	Seasonal: Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Bilbao, Gran Canaria, Tenerife-South, Riga, Tallinn
Sun d'Or operated by El Al	Seasonal: Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion

[edit] Cargo airlines

Airlines	Destinations
Aviavilsa	Leipzig/Halle

[edit] Statistics

Baltic's busiest airports by passenger traffic in 2011
Rank	City	Airport	Passengers (2011)
1.	Riga	Riga International Airport	5,106,692
2.	Tallinn	Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport	1,913,172
3.	Vilnius	Vilnius International Airport	1,712,458
4.	Kaunas	Kaunas International Airport	872,618
5.	Palanga	Palanga International Airport	111,133

[edit] Airport Statistics

Year	Passengers	Change	Flights
2004	964164	+33.9%	23665
2005	1281872	+33.0%	29193
2006	1451468	+13.2%	29347
2007	1717222	+18.3%	32840
2008	2048439	+19.3%	37839
2009	1308632	−36.1%	–
2010	1373859	+4.98%	26106
2011	1714258	+24.7%	18200
2012 (January)	129241	+66.08%	2169

[edit] Incidents and accidents

SAS Dash-8-400 after crash-landing in Vilnius airport

Scandinavian Airlines Flight 2748, a de Havilland Canada 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 8-400 planes to be grounded until the beginning of October.

[edit] Airport links

[edit] Trains

Vilnius airport railway station

Direct train services between Vilnius Airport Railway Station 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. This is the fastest way to reach the Airport from the city center. Trains run daily from 06:25 up to 19:32 The interval between two services ranges from 35 minutes during peak time to 1 hour 15 minutes during off-peak hours. One-way price – 2.50 Lt (0,73 Euro).

[edit] Buses

The bus connecting Vilnius airport to the Vilnius City Center.

Buses connect the airport with Vilnius Central Station, Vilnius city centre and Šeškinė (the north of the city).

Bus no.1 Destination: Airport – Central Station
Bus no.1A Destination: Bus Stop "Rodūnios kelias" – Central Station
Bus no.2 Destination: Airport – Bus Stop "Lukiškių aikštė" (City center) – "Šeškinė"