Lithuanian Airports vows to invest EUR 250 mln over 27 years, serve 17 mln passengers

VILNIUS – Lietuvos Oro Uuostai (Lithuanian Airports, LTOU), the operator of Lithuania's three airports, plans to invest another 250 million euros between 2025 and 2052 in further development of the ongoing projects once they are completed.

It also expects to serve around 17 million passengers a year in the future.

Following the completion of the ongoing construction of Vilnius Airport's departure terminal, around 180 million euros is expected to be invested in the reconstruction of the existing terminals and the construction of new ones during this period. Preliminary estimates suggest that investments at Kaunas Airport could reach around 50 million euros following the completion of the terminal expansion which will start this year, and around 20 million euros more could be invested in Palanda. 

Such expansion projects are part of LTOU's master plan presented on Tuesday. It has been prepared by NACO, a company owned by the Netherlands' Royal HaskoningDHV.

NACO consultants have carried out similar studies for Geneva, Helsinki, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok and other airports.

LTOU CEO Simonas Bartkus says Vilnius Airport alone is expected to handle up to 13 million passengers per year in the future.

A new arrival terminal is to be built at Vilnius Airport by 2027, and the existing terminal is to be renovated by 2028 with commercial space, and an underground Rail Baltica station is to be built underneath it by 2030, he said.

"Within the framework of this project, we have been actively working with the designers of Rail Baltica, and all these changes and all this airport development are planned to provide for a very convenient connection of Rail Baltica with the airport underground, so that people arriving at the airport could basically access the airport directly from the station," Bartkus told a press conference on Tuesday. 

Two more terminals are planned to be built by 2040, including one for Schengen and one for non-Schengen travelers. According to Bartkus, LTOU plans to finance the projects with its own funds.

"When we planned the entire airport development, we also considered sources of investment, (...) we could make it using our own funds," Bartkus said.