Vilnius Airport

Vilnius International Airport Tarptautinis Vilniaus oro uostas
IATA: VNO ICAO: EYVI
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Lithuanian government
Operator	SE "Lithuanian Airports"
Serves	Vilnius, Lithuania
Hub for	airBaltic
Focus city for	GetJet Airlines Ryanair Wizzair
Elevation AMSL	646 ft / 197 m
Coordinates	54°38′13″N 025°17′16″E / 54.63694°N 25.28778°E / 54.63694; 25.28778Coordinates: 54°38′13″N 025°17′16″E / 54.63694°N 25.28778°E / 54.63694; 25.28778
Website	vno.lt
Map
VNO Location within Vilnius VNO VNO (Lithuania) Show map of VilniusShow map of LithuaniaShow all
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 01/19 2,515 8,250 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2019)
Number of passengers 5,004,921 Passenger change 18–19 1.7% Aircraft movements 47,440 Movements change 18–19 0.5% Cargo (tonnes) 13,974 Cargo change 18–19 9.4%
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 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[]

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:^[10]

Airlines	Destinations
Aeroflot	Moscow–Sheremetyevo
airBaltic	Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, Kyiv–Boryspil, London–Gatwick, Munich, Oslo, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Riga, Tallinn Seasonal: Dubrovnik Seasonal charter: Hurghada,[11] Sharm El Sheikh[12]
Avion Express[13]	Seasonal charter: Antalya,[14] Burgas,[15] Corfu,[13] Enfidha,[13] Heraklion, Hurghada,[16] Rhodes, Sharm El Sheikh, Tenerife–South, Tivat,[13] Varna
Belavia	Minsk (suspended)[17]
Blue Panorama Airlines	Seasonal charter: Nosy Be,[18] Taba,[18] Tenerife–South,[19] Tirana[18]
Brussels Airlines	Brussels
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya[18]
Enter Air	Seasonal charter: Funchal[18]
Finnair	Helsinki
Freebird Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya,[20] Bodrum,[20] Gazipaşa,[13]
GetJet Airlines[21][20]	Charter: Hurghada[20] Seasonal charter: Antalya,[20] Araxos,[20] Barcelona,[20] Batumi,[20][22] Bodrum,[20] Burgas,[20] Catania,[20] Dalaman,[20] Dubai–Al Maktoum,[20] Faro,[20] Heraklion,[20] Kefalonia,[13] Lamezia Terme,[13] Larnaca,[20] Málaga,[13] Palma de Mallorca,[20] Patras,[20] Rhodes,[20] Sharm El Sheikh,[20] Tenerife–South,[20] Varna[20]
Holiday Europe	Seasonal charter: Burgas,[23] Heraklion[24]
LOT Polish Airlines	London–City, Warsaw–Chopin Seasonal charter: Punta Cana (begins 30 October 2021)[25]
Lufthansa	Frankfurt
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Bergen, Oslo, Stockholm–Arlanda
Ryanair	Barcelona, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin, Billund,[26] Birmingham (begins 2 November 2021),[27] Bremen, Charleroi, Dublin, Eindhoven (begins 1 November 2021),[28] Hahn, Kharkiv, Kyiv–Boryspil, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Malta, Oslo, Rome–Ciampino, Treviso, Vienna[29] Seasonal: Athens, Chania, Corfu, Tel Aviv
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Smartwings Poland	Seasonal charter: Marsa Alam,[18] Kavala
SunExpress	Seasonal charter: Antalya[30]
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul Seasonal charter: Antalya[31][20]
Ukraine International Airlines	Kyiv–Boryspil Seasonal: Odessa
Wizz Air	Beauvais, Belfast–International, Billund, Birmingham, Doncaster/Sheffield, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Kutaisi, Kyiv–Zhuliany, Larnaca, Liverpool, London–Luton, Lviv, Milan–Malpensa, Nice, Reykjavik–Keflavik (begins 17 December 2021),[32] Saint Petersburg, Sandefjord, Stockholm–Skavsta, Tel Aviv, Yerevan (begins 16 December 2021)[33] Seasonal: Santorini, Zakynthos[34]

Cargo[]

Airlines	Destinations
DHL Aviation[35]	Leipzig/Halle, Riga
Transaviabaltika[36]	Minsk (suspended)
Turkish Cargo[37]	Prague, Kyiv, Istanbul

Statistics[]

Passenger traffic[]

See source Wikidata query and sources.

"Vilnius airport statistics".

Annual traffic[]

Annual Passenger Traffic^[38]

Year	Passengers	% Change	Change
2021 (Jan-Aug)	916,481	30.17%	395,987
2020	1,312,468	73.78%	3,692,453
2019	5,004,921	1.7%	81,972
2018	4,922,949	30.9%	1,161,112
2017	3,761,837	1.4%	52,164
2016	3,814,001	14.3%	477,917
2015	3,336,084	13.4%	393,414
2014	2,942,670	10.6%	280,801
2013	2,661,869	20.6%	453,773
2012	2,208,096	28.9%	495,629
2011	1,712,467	24.7%	338,608
2010	1,373,859	5.0%	65,227
2009	1,308,632	36.1%	739,807
2008	2,048,439	19.3%	331,217
2007	1,717,222	18.3%	265,754
2006	1,451,468	13.2%	169,596
2005	1,281,872	33.0%	317,708
2004	964,164

Busiest routes[]

Top 20 busiest routes from Vilnius in 2018^[39]

Rank	City	Passengers	Airlines
1	London	468,000	Ryanair, Wizz Air
2	Frankfurt	276,000	Lufthansa, Ryanair
3	Oslo	261,000	Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Wizz Air
4	Warsaw	253,000	LOT Polish Airlines, Wizz Air
5	Antalya	245,000	Small Planet Airlines, GetJet Airlines
6	Kyiv	229,000	Ukraine International, Wizz Air, Ryanair
7	Riga	199,000	airBaltic
8	Milan	175,000	Wizz Air, Ryanair
9	Stockholm	167,000	Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air
10	Moscow	152,000	Aeroflot
11	Paris	134,000	airBaltic, Ryanair, Wizz Air
12	Copenhagen	114,000	Scandinavian Airlines
13	Helsinki	110,000	Finnair
14	Brussels	98,000	Brussels Airlines
15	Barcelona	93,000	Wizz Air, Ryanair
16	Tallinn	91,000	Nordica, airBaltic
17	Berlin	84,000	airBaltic
18	Istanbul	83,000	Turkish Airlines
19	Rome	82,000	Wizz Air, Ryanair
20	Hurghada	68,000	Small Planet Airlines, GetJet Airlines

Ground transportation[]

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).^[40]

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.^[40]

Aviation services[]

Passenger handling, aircraft handling, into-plane fueling and de-icing/anti-icing services are handled by BGS and Litcargus.^[41]

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[]

• List of largest airports in the Baltic states
• List of the busiest airports in Europe
• Transport in Lithuania

References[]

External links[]

Media related to Vilnius International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (in Lithuanian)
• Interview with CCO of Vilnius Airport
• Accident history for VNO at Aviation Safety Network