Direct flights between Vilnius and London City Airport will be discontinued later this year after failing to become profitable despite more than six years of government subsidies, Lithuania’s airport operator said. The route was created to service potential investors – and without it, Lithuania might be at a disadvantage, business leaders warn.
Lithuanian Airports (LTOU) announced Monday that flights to London City will end March 27. The route is currently operated five times a week: on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
The decision ends a connection launched in 2019 under a risk-sharing model, in which Lithuania provided financial support to help sustain the route. The flights were operated by LOT Polish Airlines using a 106-seat Embraer aircraft.
LTOU CEO Simonas Bartkus said the route never achieved sufficient passenger numbers to become commercially viable.
“It is disappointing that over six years the route did not become profitable and the aircraft flying to and from Vilnius was not filled on a daily basis,” Bartkus said in a post on Facebook. “The flight was unprofitable for the airline, and load factors were unfortunately too low.”
According to LTOU, average aircraft occupancy in 2025 stood at 67.61%. Bartkus noted that airlines today typically aim for load factors of around 90%, tolerating lower levels only on short feeder routes to major hubs.
Economy-class tickets on the Vilnius–London City route were available from about 130 euros, while business-class fares started at around 330 euros. Bartkus said the average ticket price was too low for a flight lasting about 2.5 hours, especially given operational constraints at London City Airport, which has a single 1,508-meter runway that limits aircraft size.
Flights to London City accounted for 4.4% of all travel from Lithuania to London and about 0.5% of LTOU’s total passenger traffic, the operator said.
The airport’s central location made it particularly attractive to business travellers and investors. Travel time from London City to central London by public transport is about 20 to 30 minutes, compared with more than an hour from other London airports.
After the route is discontinued, travellers from Lithuania will still be able to fly to London via Luton Airport from Vilnius and Kaunas, and via Stansted Airport from Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga. However, Luton is about 50 kilometres from central London and Stansted about 70 kilometres. All remaining routes are operated by low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air, which do not offer business class.
Bartkus said LOT Polish Airlines was not motivated to continue the route, noting that the carrier has also closed London City flights from Budapest in 2020 and Warsaw in 2022.
“Vilnius survived until 2026 with great effort, but this route no longer fits LOT’s current strategy,” he said.
Bartkus added that LTOU reached an agreement with LOT to keep the aircraft previously used on the London City route in Vilnius, where it will be deployed on an additional daily Vilnius–Warsaw flight. The new service will operate on a purely commercial basis without public funding.
In a written statement to LRT.lt, LTOU said the risk-sharing model will continue through 2026. A total of 13 million euros has been allocated for routes developed under the model between 2023 and 2026, though investments in individual routes are not disclosed. Future funding will focus on routes to Hamburg, Düsseldorf, and Lisbon.
Business leaders warned the loss of the London City connection could hurt Lithuania’s investment appeal.
Rolandas Valiūnas, chairman of the Investors’ Forum board, said he knows of at least three cases in which investors declined to visit Lithuania due to poor connectivity.
“These passengers are usually investors and businesspeople,” Valiūnas said. “When new investment in factory construction has nearly dropped to zero over the past three years, cutting a route needed by technology and financial companies feels like another serious blow to Lithuania’s investment attractiveness.”
Elijus Čivilis, head of the government-backed agency Invest Lithuania, said the United Kingdom remains one of Lithuania’s largest sources of foreign investment and ranked among the top five in 2025.
“Accessibility is one of the key factors evaluated by foreign investors,” Čivilis said. “A convenient flight can be the start of a successful business visit and encourage companies to seriously consider Lithuania.”
Aleksandras Nemunaitis, head of the Lithuanian Aviation Association, said Lithuania should increase funding for the risk-sharing model to attract investors.
“When there is no direct flight, companies choose another country,” he said, adding that the Vilnius city government contributed about 2 million euros to promote the London City route through its tourism agency, Go Vilnius.
“This should be seen as an investment in economic infrastructure,” Nemunaitis said. “To bring back foreign investment, spending needs to increase.”
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