Since joining the EU in May 2004 the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have had their share of ups and down with regard to airline development. We take a closer look at which airlines currently have the biggest presence in the market and how quickly the region’s biggest airports are growing.
Proving that some intra-European country markets are still anything but mature, we take a look at developments during the last year between Sweden and Lithuania. Which carriers have started, stopped and in some cases re-started services between these two northern European countries?
Ryanair’s CEO, and several of its successful partner airports, celebrated winning anna.aero EURO ANNIE prizes and, while the airline itself painted a future of slowed growth and hinted that it would withdraw from some markets, it mixed this in with assertions that it would open 6-10 more bases, including its first in North Africa.
Italy again featured high in the airport prizes – Venice Marco Polo for the most new carriers, while Bari and Trapani both secured Traffic Growth Prizes. Moscow Domodedovo gained the Most New Routes, while Istanbul Atatürk and Schiphol share the valuable title for Most New Non-European Routes.
Ryanair opened a base at Kaunas in Lithuania last year and the airport grew by a staggering 77%. Now Vilnius is to get five Ryanair routes from the beginning of May. But what competition will it face at the airport and which other carriers are serving which routes from the Lithuanian capital?
Wizz Air is following in Ryanair’s footsteps and setting up a base in Lithuania. But what competition will it face next April when it launches its eight new routes? And which of these routes might provoke Ryanair into responding?
When did Ryanair start serving Lithuania’s second biggest airport? Which routes was it already serving before it started a base last week and which three destinations have so far proved unsuccessful?
One of three former Russian Baltic states to join the EU in 2004 Lithuania’s two leading carriers each have around one-third of capacity and Vilnius traffic has grown 20% this year. But both airlines have cut capacity significantly this winter to reduce direct competition.
