Palanga International Airport

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Palanga Airport Palangos oro uostas
IATA: PLQ - ICAO: EYPA
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Lithuanian state
Serves		Palanga
Elevation AMSL		33 ft (10 m)
Coordinates		55°58′24″N, 021°05′38″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
01/19	7,478	2,280	Asphalt

Palanga International Airport (IATA: PLQ, ICAO: EYPA) is an international airport located in the western part of Lithuania near the Baltic Sea. The airport services mid-range routes operated by aircraft like Boeing 737, Saab 2000, Saab 340, CRJ-200, Jetstream-32, ATR 42, Yak-42 and similar. Since 1993, the number of passengers passing through the airport has been increasing annually. After Lithuania became a member of the EU the amount of passengers handled in 2004, increased more than 60% in comparison with 2003.

Nowadays Palanga airport is the third largest airport in Lithuania after Vilnius International Airport and Kaunas International Airport in terms of passenger traffic. Over two hundred people are employed by the airport facilities.

1 Airlines and destinations
2 History
3 Terminals
4 Public Transport Access
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Airlines and destinations

FlyLAL (Dublin [seasonal], London-Stansted [seasonal])
Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo-Rygge)
Scandinavian Airlines
- operated by Cimber Air (Copenhagen)
UTair Aviation (Moscow-Vnukovo [begins June 30, 2008])

Charter flights:

FlyLAL (Antalya)

[edit] History

Palanga Airport started operations in 1937 at a site 7 kilometers East of the current terminal, near the Palanga-Darbenai road. The Lithuanian Air Force pilots were trained there. In 1939, the first scheduled airline service in Lithuania began operating on Kaunas - Palanga route.

From 1940-1941, and again 1945-1963, the airport was used by the Air Force of the Soviet Union. It was during the post-war period when the new air strip and facilities at the current site first appeared. In 1963, the airport was converted into a civilian airport.

In 1991, Palanga Airport was re-registered as a national airport owned and run by the state. In 1997, the airport joined the major international aviation organization ACI (Airports Council International).

Between 1994 and 1997, the passenger terminal was renovated. Passenger services and luggage handling was fully modernized to comply with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Between 1994-1995, the flight control center was refurbished, in 1996-1997 the runway surface was renovated and in 1998, the airport apron and taxiways were renovated.

[edit] Terminals

North terminal, arrival hall

Two adjacent terminals connected by short walkways and a transit area serve the airport.

South terminal, built in the seventies and modernized in the late nineties, serves destinations within the Schengen zone countries.

The new North terminal opened on October 26, 2007. 2000 square meters of space augment airport capabilities to serve arrivals and departures from and to non-Shengen zone countries.

[edit] Public Transport Access

Motorway A13 connects with Southern Palanga (7 km) and Klaipeda (32 km) Public bus link with Palanga coach bus station operates twice hourly in summer, and once every hour and a half during the rest of the year. Scandinavian Airlines passengers are serviced by shuttle bus operating between Klaipeda and the airport. ^[1]