The number of both passengers and flights increased at Lithuanian Airports in the first half of the year

Almost 3 million passengers were travelling through Lithuanian Airports in the first half of this year. It's 15% more than last year at the same time. The rates of flights and carried cargo grew rapidly, and it`s expected that country`s airports will be able to report about new records at the end of the year.

According to Executive director of Lithuanian Airports Laura Joffe, the total number of passengers served in Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga has reached almost 3 million in the first half of this year and has grown half a million since last year. 

“In total, we served 5,2 million passengers last year. This result exceeded our expectations, especially considering that Vilnius Airport reconstruction took 35 summer days. We seek for better results in 2018 and hope to service more than 6 million passengers by the end of this year”, said L. Joffe.

The number of passengers increased at all three airports in the country in the first half of this year, but the biggest difference was in Vilnius airport. It counted almost two million passengers this year, it is even 17% more passengers in comparison with the same period last year. A one tenth more passengers flew from Kaunas - about 470 thousand, and Palanga Airport serviced 144 thousand passengers. It's 7% more than in the first half of 2017.

There were serviced almost 30 thousand flights during the first half of this year from all the airports. Meanwhile, over 55 thousand flights were provided last year. It is expected that this number will exceed 60 thousand this year.

The flight rate grew in all three air gates. In Vilnius and Palanga Airports the flight rate increased 8% to 23 thousand and more than 2 thousand flights. 4,5 thousand flights were executed at Kaunas Airport. This figure increased by 6% compared to last year. 

“The significant increase in the number of routes, the supply of regular and charter flights, the growing tourism and the number of investors in the country contribute to the success of the airports mostly”, said L. Joffe. 

There were 16% more cargo carried during the first half of this year compared with the same period last year. Most of the cargo is transported in Vilnius and this number is constantly growing. Mostly cargo freight increased due to the fact Turkish Cargo launched its operation at Vilnius Airport this April. 

The Executive director of Lithuanian Airports pointed out that the number of directions is further expanded that can be reached directly by airplanes from Lithuania. Travellers were already offered to fly in 8 new directions to Athens, Astana, Corfu and Milan Malpensa Airport from Vilnius and to Bourgas, Rimini, Girona and Warsaw from Kaunas for the first half of 2018. Also, the frequency of flights has been increased to Riga, Agadir from Vilnius and to Riga from Palanga. Travellers will be able to reach Amman, Treviso and Marrakech from the capital and Bologna, Milan and Tel Aviv from Kaunas Airport this autumn.

Currently, airplanes are flying directly to 29 countries from Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga Airports.

Airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air served most of the passengers at Lithuanian Airports. More than half of the passengers chose them in the first half of this year. 

About Lithuanian Airports 

Three air gates in Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga belong to the network of Lithuanian Airports. In 2017,they served 5.2 million passengers and 55 thousand flights. During the summer season, 17 airlines fly from Lithuanian Airports in 79 regular directions to 67 cities in 29 countries.According to the data of the Airports Council International (ACI Europe), Lithuanian Airports contribute about 2.5 percent to Lithuania’s GDP.