The reconstruction works at Vilnius Airport will soon be over. But even with a new runway and departure terminal, it might not be able to accommodate an increasing number of passengers in the future, an aviation expert says.
The reconstruction of Vilnius Airport took three years to complete and cost more than 36 million euros. The works were the largest in history and included around 200,000 square metres of new pavement (equivalent to almost 500 basketball courts) and 76 kilometres of the electricity supply network.
After the reconstruction, the airport could serve up to 10 million passengers a year, with aircraft landing and taking off every three to five minutes, said Dainius Čiuplys, head of Operations and Infrastructure Department at Lithuanian Airports.
According to him, the reconstruction was vital because the runway had major defects that caused “security threats”. A new runway has now been constructed and the old one fixed.
“In the past, aircraft had to turn around on the runway, which was time-consuming and did not utilise the airport's potential. Now, aircraft can take off and land every three to five minutes,” Čiuplys told LRT.lt.
The works also included building a new aircraft parking.
“Now, we can accommodate more aircraft. It was a necessary step before the construction of a new departure terminal,” Čiuplys said.
“Another aspect is that we are reducing carbon emissions. The reconstruction will help reduce aircraft time on a runway, which will lead to less pollution,” he added.
In Čiuplys’ words, the reconstruction “will definitely pay off before 2034”. Previously, there were talks that a new airport will be built in Žasliai, midway between Vilnius and Kaunas.
“Even if a new airport was planned, there were no talks that it should happen now. […] Whatever decision is taken in the future, it will not be a quick one, which is why the works that are currently done at Vilnius Airport are necessary,” Čiuplys said.
But the aviation expert agrees that a new larger airport should be built in Lithuania in the future.
“All the calculations suggest that at some stage we are unlikely to avoid a single airport between Vilnius and Kaunas. […] If a journey from Vilnius to Kaunas on Rail Baltica will take 30 minutes, 15 minutes that it would take to go one way or the other from the new airport will be nothing,” he said.
The need for the new airport will be decided by the number of passengers, he added. According to him, if it “grows as we project and beyond, we will inevitably face infrastructure constraints” that could only be solved by building a new airport.
Currently, Lithuanian Aviation Strategy 2030 is being prepared. According to Čiuplys, it will focus on sustainability, carbon-neutral airports, attracting freight activities to airports, increasing the number of passengers to eight million a year, and expanding the aviation training base.
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