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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Vilnius Airport
Vilnius International Airport (IATA: VNO, ICAO: EYVI) (Lithuanian: Vilniaus oro uostas) is the airport of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It is located 5.9 km (3.7 mi) south of the city center. It is the largest of the three commercial airports in Lithuania by passenger traffic, with one runway and 5 million passengers a year. Vilnius International Airport serves as a base for airBaltic, Ryanair, and Wizz Air. The airport is managed by Joint Stock Company Lithuanian Airports under the Ministry of Transport and Communications. It is the 96th busiest airport in Europe.

History

Early years

The opening of the Warsaw–Vilnius–Riga–Tallinn airline on 17 August 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 Kaunas. The airport was used as a military airfield during the war. The airport resumed its activity as a civil airport as of 17 July 1944.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Terminal

Vilnius International Airport terminal building
Main entrance to the airport

The original terminal was built in 1934-1936 to a design by Józefa Mrówkowa-Ochmańska; Stanisław Połujan was the construction manager. The three-story building was designed in modernist style, and had a restaurant with a terrace, a hotel for passengers, a newspaper kiosk, a customs post, a police station and a post office. The building was criticized for its overly luxurious interior design and size, which was unsuitable for the small, nascent civilian air traffic in Vilnius.

The construction of the current airport building started in 1949 and completed in 1954. 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.

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

In November 2007, the new 1,000 m (10,764 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 3,462 m (37,265 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.

New departure terminal

Construction of a new departure terminal at Vilnius Airport started in January 2023. After the completion of this 14,400 m (155,000 sq ft) terminal, the total area of Vilnius Airport passenger terminals will increase by one third, and passenger throughput will double – from 1,200 passengers per hour to 2,400. Together with the construction of the new terminal, a redevelopment of road infrastructure is planned, including upgrades of engineering networks and a new transport scheme. The terminal is scheduled to open in February 2025 with projected cost of 50.2 million euros.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

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

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens
airBaltic Amsterdam, Berlin, Chișinău (resumes 2 April 2025), Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Kraków, Lisbon, Málaga, Munich, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Prague (begins 30 March 2025), Riga, Tallinn, Tel Aviv (begins 30 March 2025)
Seasonal: Dubai–International, Dubrovnik, Gran Canaria, Heraklion, Ibiza (begins 5 June 2025), Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes (begins 2 April 2025), Sandefjord, Tenerife–South, Tirana (begins 3 June 2025), Turin, Valencia (begins 16 April 2025)
Air Montenegro Seasonal charter: Tivat
Austrian Airlines Vienna
Avion Express Seasonal charter: Antalya, Barcelona, Bergamo, Burgas, Catania, Enfidha, Faro, Funchal, Gazipaşa, Heraklion, Hurghada, Larnaca, Lamezia Terme, Lyon, Rhodes, Salzburg, Sharm El Sheikh, Tenerife–South, Tivat, Zakynthos
Brussels Airlines Brussels
Finnair Helsinki
Freebird Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum
GetJet Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya, Barcelona, Bodrum, Burgas, Corfu, Funchal, Gazipaşa, Heraklion, Hurghada, Lamezia Terme, Málaga, Marsa Alam, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Patras, Rhodes, Rimini, Salzburg, Sharm El Sheikh, Tenerife–South, Varna
Heston Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya, Enfidha, Heraklion, Hurghada, Kavala, Sharm El Sheikh, Tivat
LOT Polish Airlines London–City, Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Mavi Gok Aviation Seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum
Norwegian Air Shuttle Oslo
Seasonal: Stockholm–Arlanda
Play Seasonal: Reykjavik–Keflavik
Ryanair Barcelona, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin, Bremen, Eindhoven, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Malta, Nuremberg, Oslo, Rome–Ciampino, Tel Aviv (suspended), Treviso, Turin, Vienna
Seasonal: Athens, Billund, Corfu, Dublin, Hahn, Rome–Fiumicino, Stockholm–Arlanda, Varna
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Skyline Express Airlines Seasonal charter: Enfidha, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh
SkyUp Seasonal charter: Antalya, Hambantota, Heraklion, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh
Smartwings Seasonal charter: Tirana
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Seasonal charter: Antalya
Wizz Air Barcelona, Beauvais, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Kutaisi, Larnaca, London–Luton, Málaga, Milan–Malpensa, Rome–Fiumicino, Tel Aviv
Seasonal: Grenoble, Split

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
DHL Aviation Leipzig/Halle, Riga
Turkish Cargo 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
Year Passengers % Change Change
2024 (Jan-Nov) 4,483,264 - -
2023 4,406,019 Increase 12.5% Increase 490,149
2022 3,915,870 Increase 106.2% Increase 2,017,053
2021 1,898,817 Increase 44.7% Increase 585,349
2020 1,312,468 Decrease 73.8% 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 2023
Rank Airport Passengers Airlines
1 Turkey Antalya 368,711 Avion Express, Freebird Airlines, GetJet Airlines, Heston Airlines, SkyUp, Turkish Airlines
2 Poland Warsaw-Chopin 266,187 LOT Polish Airlines,
3 Latvia Riga 229,613 airBaltic
4 United Kingdom London-Luton 210,557 Ryanair, Wizz Air
5 Germany Frankfurt 181,259 Lufthansa
6 Turkey Istanbul 180,396 Turkish Airlines
7 Norway Oslo 167,381 Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle
8 United Kingdom London-Stansted 131,615 Ryanair
9 Finland Helsinki 126,976 Finnair
10 Netherlands Eindhoven 106,638 Ryanair, Wizz Air
11 Spain Barcelona 103,108 Ryanair, Wizz Air
12 Italy Rome-Fiumicino 98,780 Ryanair, Wizz Air
13 Denmark Copenhagen 96,105 Scandinavian Airlines
14 Germany Berlin 91,703 airBaltic, Ryanair
15 Sweden Stockholm-Arlanda 90,577 Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian Airlines, Ryanair
16 Italy Bergamo 88,400 Ryanair
17 Austria Vienna 87,242 Austrian Airlines, Ryanair
18 Greece Heraklion 84,574 airBaltic, Avion Express, GetJet Airlines, Heston Airlines, SkyUp
19 Netherlands Amsterdam 84,064 airBaltic
20 France Beauvais 82,310 Ryanair, Wizz Air

Most frequent routes

Top 10 most frequent routes from Vilnius as of June 2024
Rank City Flights per week
1 Poland Warsaw Chopin ~33
2 Latvia Riga ~28
3 Finland Helsinki ~28
4 Germany Frankfurt ~17
5 Turkey Istanbul ~15
6 United Kingdom London Luton ~14
7 Norway Oslo Gardermoen ~12
8 Italy Rome Fiumicino ~11
9 Spain Barcelona El Prat ~10
10 Germany Berlin Brandenburg ~9

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 Vilnius Central Railway Station (LTG Link) is 4.3 kilometres (2.7 mi), the journey takes 8 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).

Public transportation

City's public buses operate from the airport. Tickets can be bought from: Trafi, M.Ticket. Also, the company Toks transports passengers from the bus station to Vilnius airport and back by microbuses.

Aviation services

Passenger handling, aircraft handling, into-plane fueling and de-icing/anti-icing services are handled by BGS and Litcargus.
Pilot training is conducted at Kyviskes Airfield, a non-commercial airport about 25 kilometers from Vilnius Airport.

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 of that year.
  • 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.
  • On 21 June 2023, the runway was closed after Brussels Airlines Flight 2372, set to fly to Brussels Airport could not take off as a landing gear tire popped while taxiing.

See also

References

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