Airport, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Tourism, Transport

The publication observes the growing presence of low cost services, success of Riga Airport, and details the absence of a flag-carrier in Lithuania.

Despite the recent ownership and management issues, airBaltic remains by some distance the leading airline in the region, with more than three times as many flights as the next biggest airline, and nearly 70% more seat capacity than Ryanair, which has rapidly established itself as the region’s second-biggest airline with a base in Kaunas and a significant presence in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius.

Fellow low-cost carrier Wizz Air opened a base in Vilnius in April of this year and currently operates eight routes from the Lithuanian capital, all to destinations in Western Europe. It also operates two flights at Riga Airport to London Luton and to Oslo Torp.

Despite being the largest and most populous of the three Baltic countries, Lithuania no longer has an airline operating scheduled passenger services to call its own. Lithuanian Airlines was founded in 1991 after the country’s independence from the Soviet Union. The airline evolved into flyLAL in 2005, but struggled financially and ceased operating in early 2009. This resulted in a major drop off in airport traffic in Vilnius in 2009, which was not rescued by the short-lived, single-aircraft LCC Star1. As a result, the leading airlines in Vilnius (measured by weekly seat capacity) are now airBaltic (two routes), Ryanair (six routes) and Wizz Air (eight routes).

Full Publication: http://www.anna.aero/2011/09/29/airbaltic-continues-to-dominate-baltic-aviation-regions-airports-growing-fast/