Air Lituanica

Air Lituanica
IATA ICAO Callsign
LT[1] LTU LITUANICA
Founded May 2013 (2013-05)
Ceased operations 22 May 2015 (2015-05-22)
Hubs Vilnius Airport
Fleet size 4
Destinations 10
Parent company Start Vilnius (68.7%)[2]
Headquarters Vilnius, Lithuania
Key people
Website airlituanica.com

Air Lituanica was a Lithuanian airline headquartered in Vilnius and based at Vilnius Airport. It ceased operations in May 2015.

History

An Embraer 170 in Air Lituanica markings. The carrier deployed an aircraft of the type on the first route served, Vilnius–Brussels.[4]

Air Lituanica was registered in late May 2012. It was named after Lituanica, an aircraft commanded by Steponas Darius and Stasys Girenas, two pioneer Lithuanian pilots that flew it on a transatlantic flight in 1933.[5] The carrier's sole owner, Air Vilnius Group, had an initial investment of LTL0.5 million. Air Vilnius Group was in turn owned by Šiaurės miestelis, which had been registered on 21 May 2012 as a subsidiary of the Vilnius City Municipality. Plans were to collect LTL43.5 million (EUR14 million) from a number of investors for the establishment of the new airline.[6]

Air Lituanica was established in May 2013.[7] The activation of the company was partly accelerated by the fact that Lithuania would take position in the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 July 2013 to 31 December 2013.[8][9] In May 2013, Brussels was announced to be the carrier's first destination, with services starting on 30 June 2013; by this time, the air operator's certificate (AOC) had not been granted yet but the airline already had 27 employees.[10]

The sale of tickets was launched in early June 2013 using the Estonian Air booking channels.[11] Also in early June 2013, a contract for the lease of an Embraer E-170 until 2015 was signed with Estonian Air.[12][13] An 86-seater Embraer E-175 leased from ECC Leasing Company, an Embraer subsidiary, would enter the fleet in July 2013;[14] the aircraft was handed over by the manufacturer two months later than planned.[15] Air Lituanica received its AOC on 26 June 2013;[16] operations started four days later, on 30 June, serving the Vilnius–Brussels route with a leased Embraer E-170.[4][17][18] After its maiden flight, Air Lituanica became the first scheduled Lithuanian airline since FlyLAL and Star1 Airlines ceased operations in 2009 and 2010, respectively.[8] The carrier started flying its second route, Vilnius–Amsterdam–Vilnius, on 8 July; with these two routes, the airline contributes with 2% of the international capacity in the country; as of July 2013, the company ranked 9th in terms of available seats to and from Lithuania.[8] Berlin Tegel, Prague and Munich were added to the route network on 5 August, 20 September and 21 September 2013, respectively.[19][20][21]

Following allegations of missed payments from both parties,[22] the contractual relationship between Air Lituanica and Estonian Air was unilaterally terminated by the Estonian national carrier in late November 2013[23][24][25] and led to the end of operations for the Embraer 170 which was operated for Air Lithuanica by Estonian Air on the routes to Amsterdam and Berlin.[26]

In April 2014, it was informed the start of flights to Gothenburg and Malmö, to be served on a seasonal basis between June and August 2014,[27] and the resumption of flights to Amsterdam.[28] The latter destination had been discontinued on 27 November 2013.[29]

Air Lituanica ceased operations on 22 May 2015.[30] The company subsequently filed for bankruptcy on 8 June 2015.[31]

Destinations

Air Lituanica served the following destinations:[32]

Country City Airport Begin End Refs
BelgiumBrusselsBrussels Airport30 June 201322 May 2015[4]
Czech RepublicPraguePrague Václav Havel Airport20 September 201322 May 2015[20]
DenmarkBillundBillund Airport16 June 201422 May 2015[33][34]
EstoniaTallinnLennart Meri Tallinn Airport12 March 201422 May 2015[35]
FranceParisCharles de Gaulle Airport14 February 201422 May 2015[36]
GermanyBerlinBerlin Tegel Airport5 August 201322 May 2015[19]
GermanyHamburgHamburg Airport30 April 201522 May 2015[37][38]
GermanyMunichMunich Airport21 September 201322 May 2015[21]
LithuaniaVilniusVilnius Airport Hub N/A N/A[4]
NetherlandsAmsterdamAmsterdam Airport Schiphol31 August 201422 May 2015[28][39]
SwedenGöteborgGöteborg Landvetter Airport16 June 201422 May 2015[40]
SwedenMalmöMalmö Airport17 June 201422 May 2015[27]
SwedenStockholmBromma Airport26 January 201522 May 2015[41]

Fleet

At February 2015 the Air Lituanica fleet consisted of a single Embraer 175.[42]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Moores, Victoria (31 January 2014). "Air Lituanica receives fresh capital". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Gytis Gumuliauskas appointed the new head of Air Lituanica". Air Lituanica. 18 July 2014. Archived 23 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 3 4 Moores, Victoria (2 July 2013). "Lithuanian start-up Air Lituanica launches operations". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  5. ↑ Moores, Victoria (5 June 2013). "Start-up Air Lituanica secures two E-Jets for June launch". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "Vilnius city municipality establishes an airline company". The Lithuania Tribune. 3 June 2012. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Air Lituanica happy with Estonian Air co-operation". The Lithuania Tribune. 19 July 2013. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 "Air Lituanica launches operations, becomes Lithuania’s sole scheduled airline". Centre for Aviation. 12 July 2013. Archived from the original on 12 July 2013.
  9. ↑ Kaminski-Morrow, David (10 December 2012). "Lithuanian start-up aims to be ready for EU presidency". London: Flightglobal. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Air Lituanica has announced its first routes and ticket prices". The Lithuania Tribune. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Pavilenene, Danuta (7 June 2013). "Air Lituanica launches ticket sales". Vilnius: The Baltic Course. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  12. ↑ Bonnassies, Oliver (5 June 2013). "Air Lituanica to start flights with leased Embraer 170". London: Flightglobal. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "Air Lituanica and Estonian Air signed a lease agreement for E170 aircraft" (Press release). Estonian Air. 4 June 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  14. ↑ "Air Lituanica Selects Embraer E-Jets". PRNewswire. 18 June 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Vilnius airport welcomed the second Air Lituanica aircraft". The Lithuania Tribune. 6 September 2013. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014.
  16. ↑ "Air Lituanica obtains commercial activity license". The Lithuania Tribune. 8 August 2013. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014.
  17. ↑ Ricci, Joël (30 June 2013). "Air Lituanica arrive à Bruxelles" [Air Lituanica arrived in Brussels] (in French). Air Journal. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  18. ↑ Blachly, Linda (18 June 2013). "Air Lituanica acquires two Embraer E-Jets". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  19. 1 2 Moores, Victoria (5 August 2013). "Start-up Air Lituanica adds Berlin Tegel service". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013.
  20. 1 2 "Air Lituanica inaugurated its first flight from Prague". The Lithuania Tribune. 23 September 2013. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014.
  21. 1 2 "New route Vilnius - Munich" (Press release). Air Lituanica. 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  22. ↑ Moores, Victoria (3 December 2013). "Estonian Air, Air Lituanica split over debts dispute". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013.
  23. ↑ "Air Lituanica claims that commercial co-operation with Estonian Air was terminated unilaterally". The Lithuania Tribune. 28 November 2013. Archived 20 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ↑ "Estonian Air terminates its contractual relationship with Air Lituanica". The Lithuania Tribune. 28 November 2013. Archived 20 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ "Estonian Air Cancels Contract with Air Lituanica, Citing Payment Problems". EER News. 28 November 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  26. ↑ ch-aviation.com/portal/news/23704-estonian-air-air-lituanica-divorce-after-fight-over-non-payments
  27. 1 2 "Air Lituanica to launch flights to two cities of Sweden this summer" (Press release). Air Lituanica. 4 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014.
  28. 1 2 "Air Lituanica resumes flights to Amsterdam" (Press release). Air Lituanica. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 April 2014.
  29. ↑ "Commercial cooperation between Air Lituanica and Estonian Air was terminated unilaterally." (Press release). Air Lituanica. 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  30. ↑ Dron, Alan (22 May 2015). "Air Lituanica halts services". Air Transport World. Archived 22 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ↑ http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/37949-air-lituanica-files-for-bankruptcy
  32. ↑ "Air Lituanica flights". Air Lituanica. Archive copy at the Wayback Machine
  33. ↑ "Airline Routes". Air Transport World. 28 August 2014. Air Lituanica will keep 2X-weekly Vilnius-Billund on its schedule of regular flights, going off seasonal-only service. Archived 28 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  34. ↑ "Autumn to bring more flights from Lithuania to Denmark" (Press release). Air Lituanica. 29 July 2014. Archived 31 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ↑ "New destination - Tallinn". 12 March 2014. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  36. ↑ "New flight to Paris" (Press release). Air Lituanica. 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.
  37. ↑ "Air Lituanica started flights from Vilnius to Hamburg" (Press release). Air Lituanica. 30 April 2015. Archived 20 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  38. ↑ Young, Kathryn M. (19 May 2015). "Airline Routes-19 May 2015". Air Transport World. Air Lituanica launched Vilnius-Hamburg, its third direct flight to Germany. Archived 20 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  39. ↑ "Airline Routes". Air Transport World. 29 May 2014. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Air Lituanica begins daily Vilnius-Amsterdam Embraer E-175 service Aug. 31 and increases from 10X-weekly to 12X-Tallinn-Vilnius service.
  40. ↑ "Air Lituanica adds three new routes to Scandinavia". The Baltic Course. 18 June 2014. Archived from the original on 24 June 2014.
  41. ↑ "Airline Routes-Nov. 17, 2014". Air Transport World. 17 November 2014. Air Lituanica begins 10X-weekly Vilnius-Stockholm Bromma Jan. 26. Archived 18 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  42. ↑ "Fleet". Air Lituanica. Archived 4 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Media related to Air Lituanica at Wikimedia Commons

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