Vilnius International Airport

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Vilnius International Airport
Tarptautinis Vilniaus oro uostas

IATA: VNO – ICAO: EYVI
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Ministry of Transport and Communications
Location Vilnius, Lithuania
Elevation AMSL 646 ft / 197 m
Coordinates 54°38′03″N 25°17′09″E / 54.63417, 25.28583
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
02/20 8,251 2,515 Asphalt

Vilnius International Airport (IATA: VNO, ICAO: EYVI) (Lithuanian: Tarptautinis Vilniaus Oro Uostas) is the largest civil airport in Lithuania. It is located 7km south of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It began operations in 1944, the old terminal was built in 1954.

Vilnius International Airport is a state owned company, established by the Lithuanian Ministry of Transportation in 1991. airBaltic had most passengers from the airport in 2006, followed by flyLal, the national airline of Lithuania. It also serves flights of SAS, Lufthansa, Finnair, Aeroflot, Austrian Airlines, Czech Airlines, LOT, and some other regional airlines.

Lithuanian Airlines (nowadays marketed as flyLal) was established as the major Lithuanian airline following independence in 1991 and inherited the Vilnius-based Aeroflot fleet of Tupolev's Tu -134 , Yakovlev's Yak - 40/42 and Antonov - 24/26, but rapidly replaced these and now has Boeing 737, 757 jets and Saab 2000 turboprops. Air Baltic, the national airline of Latvia and under SAS ownership, opened up a second base at Vilnius to complement their Riga operation and has become the largest carrier at the airport now, using Boeing 737 jets and Fokker F50 turboprops. The third carrier with a base here is Aurela Airlines with two Boeing 737 and one Boeing 757 jets, who specialise in holiday and buisnes charter flights to the Asia, Black Sea and Mediterranean resorts.

Vilnius International Airport is a fast growing airport that receives over one million passengers per year (1.717.222 in 2007). It is the largest of the four major airports in Lithuania: Kaunas International Airport (also known as Karmėlava Airport) in Kaunas, Šiauliai International Airport in Šiauliai (also known as Zokniai Airport, formerly one of the largest military airports in Europe, now services NATO and freight flights), and Palanga International Airport in Palanga.

In November 2007, the new 17,000 sq.m terminal building was opened for operations which improved the capacity and facilities of the airport and complies to the requirements of the Schengen agreement.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

  • Aer Lingus (Dublin)
  • airBaltic (Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, Brussels, Chisinau, Copenhagen, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Helsinki, London-Gatwick, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, Odessa, Oslo, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Riga, Rome-Fiumicino, Simferopol [seasonal], Stockholm-Arlanda, Tallinn)
  • Austrian Airlines
  • Czech Airlines (Prague)
  • Estonian Air
  • Finnair (Helsinki)
  • flyLAL (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Innsbruck [seasonal], Istanbul-Atatürk, Kiev-Boryspil, Larnaca [seasonal], London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Malaga, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Munich [seasonal], Palma de Mallorca [seasonal], Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Riga, Rome-Fiumcino, Stockholm-Arlanda [starts June 16, 2008], Tallinn, Tbilisi, Thessaloniki [seasonal])
  • Flysmaland (Växjö)
  • LOT Polish Airlines
  • Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
  • Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo)
  • UTair Aviation (Moscow-Vnukovo)

Charter flights:

[edit] Building

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, typical decor for Soviet public buildings of early post-war years.

The arrivals building has been modified to some extent (e.g., high front entrance stairs have been fitted with trolley ramp), but it is widely criticized as one of the most cramped and dark terminals in any capital city of Europe. Immigration hall, comfortably holding only about 40 people, is unsuitable for passenger load of most modern airliners serving Vilnius, which results in people queing on stairs and in corridors. Baggage hall is fitted with two small baggage carousels intended for aircraft seating no more than 100 passengers; the frequency of flights results each of them sometimes has to carry load of baggage from up to three aircraft.

The very substantial new terminal building, some three times the size of the existing one, which it will be integrated with, was well on the way to completion in mid-2007 and opened in October 2007.

[edit] External links