Vilnius Airport

Vilnius International Airport Tarptautinis Vilniaus oro uostas
IATA: VNO – ICAO: EYVI
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Lithuanian government
Operator		State Enterprise Tarptautinis Vilniaus oro uostas
Serves		Vilnius, Lithuania
Hub for		Air Lituanica Small Planet Airlines Grand Cru Airlines
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		www.vilnius-airport.lt
Map
VNO Location within the city
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
02/20	2,515	8,250	Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2013)
Number of Passengers			2,661,869
Aircraft movements			32,778
Source: Lithuanian AIP at EUROCONTROL[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^[1] of the city. It is the largest of the four commercial airports in Lithuania by passenger traffic.

History

The present-day Vilnius International Airport is a state owned enterprise under the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The airport began operations in 1944.

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 F50 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 International Airport is the main hub for Air Lituanica, Small Planet Airlines, Grand Cru Airlines, and Aviavilsa and secondary hub for Wizz Air. It used to be a main hub for Star1 Airlines until their end of operations in September 2010. And it used to be a secondary hub for airBaltic, Estonian Air and Skyways Express until they closed the bases in Vilnius. It also used to be a main hub for Aurela until they have lost their flight license.

Today Vilnius Airport is one of the fastest-growing airports in Europe. With one runway (with CAT II certification) and an estimated 2 million passengers a year, Vilnius International Airport is base to Wizz Air and Small Planet airlines, focus city to Ryanair and is served by a number of European regular and low-cost airlines, offering direct and connecting flights to many destinations.

On June 30, 2013 Air Lituanica began its first flights from the Vilnius International Airport.

Terminal

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, and until early 1990s, the Soviet hammer and sickle, typical decor for Soviet public buildings of early post-war years.

In November 2007, the new 17,000 m² (180,000 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. 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 37,462 m² (403,240 sq ft). It is equipped with 6 passenger boarding bridges, modern passenger check-in equipment, new travel value & duty free shops were opened as well as business lounge and VIP Lounge.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Ryanair Boeing 737-800 in Vilnius

Air Lituanica Embraer 170 in Vilnius

Wizz Air Airbus A320-200 in Vilnius

Small Planet Airlines Boeing 737-300 in Vilnius

Cargo

Destination map to Europe

Vilnius Moscow SVO Riga Amsterdam Berlin TXL Brussels Munich Prague Vienna Tallinn Helsinki Warsaw Frankfurt Oslo OSL St Petersburg Paris BVA Barcelona Milan BGY Bremen Charleroi Cork Dublin Leeds Liverpool London STN RYG CIA Weeze Copenhagen Stockholm DME Istanbul IST Kyiv KBP VKO Doncaster/Sheffield Dortmund Eindhoven LTN Rome FCO TRF Stavanger Tel Aviv TLV Chania Ålesund Reykjavik KEF Malta Antalya Bodrum Heraklion Dalaman Paphos Rhodes Salzburg Simferopol Nice Bilbao Rijeka Varna Faro Corfu Minsk CDG Map Legend All-year scheduled flights Seasonal scheduled flights Future destination

Destination map to Africa
Enfidha Hurghada Gran Canaria Marsa Alam Monastir Sharm el-Sheikh Taba Palma de Mallorca Malaga Map Legend All-year scheduled flights Seasonal scheduled flights Future destination

Destination map to Asia and Middle East
Vilnius Bangkok BKK Kutaisi Dubai Map Legend All-year scheduled flights Seasonal scheduled flights Future destination

Statistics

Year	Passengers	Change	Flights
2006	1451468	+13.2%	29347
2007	1717222	+18.3%	32840
2008	2048439	+19.3%	37839
2009	1308632	−36.1%	–
2010	1373859	+4.98%	26106
2011	1712467	+24.7%	27703
2012	2208099	+28.94%	29995
2013	2661869	+20,55%	32778
2014 (Jan)	177033	+1.28%	2605

Busiest airports by passenger traffic in the Baltic States

Country	Airport	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001
Latvia	Riga Airport	4,793,045	4,767,764	5,106,692	4,663,647	4,066,854	3,690,549	3,160,945	2,495,020	1,878,035	1,060,426	711,753	633,322	622,647
Lithuania	Vilnius Airport	2,661,869	2,208,096	1,712,467	1,373,859	1,308,632	2,048,439	1,717,222	1,451,468	1,281,872	964,164	719,850	634,991	584,171
Estonia	Tallinn Airport	1,958,801	2,206,791	1,913,172	1,384,831	1,346,236	1,811,536	1,728,430	1,541,832	1,401,059	997,941	715,859	605,697	573,493
Lithuania	Kaunas Airport	695,509	830,268	872,618	809,732	456,698	410,165	390,881	248,228	77,350	27,113	21,732	19,891	20,137
Lithuania	Palanga Airport	127,890	128,169	111,133	102,528	104,600	101,586	93,379	110,828	94,000	76,020	46,666	45,971	45,660

Ground transportation

Train

Vilnius airport railway station

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. This is the fastest way to reach the Airport from the city center. Trains run daily from 5:45 up to 21:10 The intervals between the services range from 37 minutes during peak time to 1 hour 31 minutes during off-peak hours. One-way ticket costs 2.50 Lt (0.73 Euro).

Bus

The bus connecting Vilnius airport with Vilnius City Centre.

Buses connect the airport with Vilnius Central Station, city centre and northern areas of the city. The direct intercity express services operate from the Airport to Klaipėda and Riga (via Panevėžys and Bauska).

Means of transport at Vilnius Airport
Type	Operator	Number	Route	Timetable	Notes
Bus	Vilniaus Viešasis Transportas	3G	Airport - City centre - Šeškinė - Fabijoniškės	www.stops.lt	Express service. Limited stops.
	Vilniaus Viešasis Transportas	1	Airport - F.Vaitkaus str. - Central station	www.stops.lt
	Vilniaus Viešasis Transportas	2	Airport - F.Vaitkaus str. - Central Station - Vikingų str. - Airport	www.stops.lt
	Vilniaus Viešasis Transportas	4	Kirtimai - Airport (Rodiūnios kelias bus stop) - Central station	www.stops.lt	Bus stop "Rodiūnios kelio" is located near the airport hotel, about 5 minutes walk from airport arrivals terminal
	Vilniaus Viešasis Transportas	88	Airport - City center - Old town - Užupis - shopping center Europa	www.stops.lt
	TOKS	--	Airport - Central station	www.toks.lt
	Keleivių.lt	--	Klaipėda to - Vilnius airport	www.keleiviu.lt
	Ollex	--	Airport - Klaipėda	www.ollex.lt
	FLYBUS	--	Airport - Panevėžys - Bauska - Riga (Latvia)	www.flybus.lv
Train	Lietuvos Geležinkeliai	--	Airport - Central station	[http://www.litrail.lt/wps/portal/!ut/p/c1/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3h3C2N_VzcPIwMDH3NHAyNTU69gPyd_Q-MQQ_1wkA6zeAMcwNFA388jPzdVvyA7rxwADztqiA!!/dl2/d1/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnB3LzZfRzgzT0VGSDIwMEw3QTAyNTVKU05CTzFCVTY!/ www.litrail.lt]

Incidents and accidents

SAS Dash-8-400 after crash-landing in Vilnius airport

• 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 8-400 planes to be grounded until the beginning of October.

References

External links

Media related to Vilnius International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Accident history for VNO at Aviation Safety Network

v t e Airports in Lithuania International Kaunas Palanga Vilnius Unscheduled Šiauliai