In the summer of the year 2011 the access by air to Lithuania will be the most significant over the 21 years of Independence. It is planned that all the three international airports of Lithuania  - Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga - will provide more passenger seats than in the best – ‘pre-crisis‘ year 2008.

Last Sunday Vilnius International Airport (VIA) introduced a new timetable of regular flights for the summer season. Vilnius Airport starts the summer season by introducing new destinations and airlines which are to begin to operate flights to/from Vilnius. It is estimated that these airlines should attract around half a million passengers to Vilnius.

The greatest news this summer season in Vilnius Airport is the arrival of two low cost airlines Wizz Air and Ryanair. As of 17 April Wizz Air will start to operate flights to London, Cork, Doncaster, Eindhoven, Milan, Rome, Barcelona and Stockholm, while Ryanair will start its activities on 2 May and will offer flights to the following destinations: Bremen, Dublin, Girona, London (Stansted), Milan and Rome.

The old-timer of Vilnius Airport, Estonian Air, has expanded its destination map by offering flights not only to Tallinn, Amsterdam and Stockholm (Arlanda) but also to Berlin as of 1 May.

“In the summer of 2011 it will become as easy to reach Lithuania by air as never before throughout its period of independence. As compared to all three Lithuanian airports, Vilnius Airport will offer the largest number of seats since 2008 – the best year before the recession. In July the number of seats in regular flights from Vilnius Airport will reach the level of 2008 and will make up around 200 thousand. A greater increase in supply was hindered by the shrinking market of charter flights in the last three years”, Director of VIA Commerce Department Simonas Bartkus comments on the expectations of the new season.

According to Mr Bartkus, this summer none of the 15 airlines operating in Vilnius Airport will have a dominant position which will allow the Airport to distribute the risk and the competition among the airlines will be of great benefit to passengers. According to the number of passenger seats offered, this summer the leading position will be held by airBaltic which is to offer around 35 thousand seats per month.
Ryanair and Wizz Air will lag slightly behind it by offering over 30 thousand seats per month each.
The number of seats offered by three trademarks of the Lufthansa Group – Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines – will make up over 25 thousand.
VIA is planning to service 1.8 million passengers this year.
 
Whereas the record will be reached according to the general amount of passenger seats with destination to all the three Lithuania‘s international airports – Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga, the total amount of 330 thousand passenger seats will be provided in this summer.

The new timetable will be valid until 30 October 2011.
The flight timetable is available here: http://vno.lt/en/flight-information/flight-timetable/

More information at:
http://vno.lt/en/news/airport-news/detail.php?id=18538
http://www.transp.lt/en/news/10938

Due to the approaching summer holiday season, recent upgrade of the fleet with new aircraft and transition to the summer flight schedule on the last Sunday on March, Estonian Air will increase flight schedule on a number of year-round and seasonal routes.

Estonian Air will serve its flight schedule with a larger number of planes, altogether eight aircraft, which allows the airline to add seats to the market as well as flight frequencies.

-From 27 February 2011, Estonian Air will open a new route between Tartu and Tallinn. Early morning flights from Tartu to Tallinn will be operated six times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Late evening flights from Tallinn to Tartu will be operated on the same days, with the exception on weekends, when Saturday flights are operated on Sundays instead.

- From 27 March 2011, Estonian Air increases the flight schedule between Tallinn and Brussels to six flights a week by adding Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday flights. At present Estonian Air is operating from Tallinn and Brussels three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

-From 27 March 2011, Estonian Air increases the flight schedule between Tallinn and London to four flights a week. Flights from Tallinn to London will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. At present Estonian Air is operating flights on Thursdays and Sundays.

-From 29 March 2011, Estonian Air increases the flight schedule between Tallinn and Moscow to five flights a week by adding Tuesday flights. At present Estonian Air is operating between Tallinn and Moscow three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

-From 2 April 2011, Estonian Air increases the flight schedule on Tallinn-Amsterdam and Vilnius-Amsterdam routes to seven flights a week by adding Saturday flights. At present Estonian Air is operating flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

- On 1 May 2011, Estonian Air will launch a new route between Vilnius and Berlin with four flights a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

In addition, Estonian Air will resume flights to summer destinations:

-From 28 March 2011, between Tallinn and Minsk. The flights will be operated three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The route will be operated until 28 October 2011.

-From 1 May 2011 between, Tallinn and Paris. The flights will be operated three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The route will be operated until 27 October 2011.

- From 1 May 2011, between Kuressaare and Stockholm once a week on Sundays. The route will be operated until 28 August 2011.

-From 2 May 2011, between Tallinn and Berlin with three flights week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The route will be operated until 30 September 2011.

-From 7 May 2011, between Tallinn and Barcelona. Between the period from 7 May to 6 June the flights are operated once a week on Saturdays; from 14 June to 30 August twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and from 3 September to 29 October on Saturdays.

-From 7 May 2011, between Tallinn and Milan. The flight will be operated once a week on Saturdays, the route will be operated until 24 September 2011.

-From 18 June 2011, between Tallinn and Nice. The flights are operated once a week on Saturdays, the route will be operated until 17 September 2011.

For more information please visit : www.estonian-air.com

Contact us to to get more information on our tours or book your weekend during Tallinn European Capital of Culture 2011:
http://www.lithuaniantours.com/special-offers/tallinn---european-capital-of-culture-2011/951

In the summer season, Latvian national airline airBaltic will start a new route from Riga to Gdansk, Poland.

Tero Taskila, Chief Commercial Officer: “The new route will offer convenient transit connections for tourists and business people to via Riga to destinations in Scandinavia, Russia, the CIS and the Middle East. On the other hand, the new route will attract more travellers to the seaside city in Northern Poland.”

Starting from April 18, airBaltic will fly from Riga to Gdansk four times a week – Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Passengers will board a Fokker 50 aircraft for a flight that will last for 1 hour and 20 minutes. One-way ticket prices will start at EUR 39, including airport fees and transaction costs. A full schedule of flights is available on – www.airbaltic.com

Book our weekend package and enjoy your visit to Riga 

Lufthansa announced that it expects its business in Lithuania to break new records in 2010. The leading European airline with 18 years of operational expertise in Lithuania observes unprecedented passenger growth on routes to and from Vilnius and reacts with an enhanced schedule for summer timetable 2011 resulting in more flexibility and comfort for customers.

“We are pleased to see such a positive development of our business on our Vilnius flights. A very good occupancy and increased capacity will lead us to a passenger record this year. We are confident to transport over 100,000 passengers this year. This confirms our approach to the Lithuanian market and our attractive products and services,” said Matthias Hinze, Lufthansa Country Manager Baltic States. “To cater to our passengers’ needs, we will further improve our schedule in summer timetable 2011. Our new morning and evening flight times will allow both business and leisure passengers to either make use of a full day in Frankfurt or ideally connect to any of our over 160 destinations worldwide which we serve from our biggest hub,” he added.

“Vilnius Airport has a strategic goal to guarantee very well possibilities to reach Lithuania from all over the world. New Lufthansa schedule will expand opportunities to reach Vilnius through one of the biggest airports in Europe - Frankfurt. With improving connections and growing number of flights Vilnius will become more attractive for business traffic,” commented Simonas Bartkus, Director of Commerce Department of Vilnius Airport.

Vilnius - Frankfurt - Vilnius
Flight schedule from 28 March 2011

Daily flights
LH 889 Vilnius 05:45 – Frankfurt 06:50
LH 887 Vilnius 14:15 – Frankfurt 15:20

LH 886 Frankfurt 10:30 – Vilnius 13:30
LH 888 Frankfurt 20:25 – Vilnius 23:25
Aircraft type: Airbus A 319 (138 seats in Business Class and Economy Class)

http://www.vilnius-airport.lt/en/