Vilnius International Airport (VIA) is amongst the fastest growing airports in Europe, according to the quarterly airport review of ACI EUROPE (European Region of Airports Council International).  According to the VIA statement the airport witnessed an increase of 10 per cent in passenger traffic compared to the same period last year. The passenger flows in May went up by 19 per cent compared to the same month last year.

VIA is in the third place among 106 European airports in terms of the increase in the number of flights. The number of flights served at VIA during the first quarter of 2010 amounted to 5,863, which is 24.5 per cent more than during the same quarter of 2009, the airport said in the press statement.

Brussels South Charleroi Airport (Belgium) and Antalya Airport (Turkey) are the two fastest growing airports in Europe with the actual increase in the number of flights amounting to 49.2 and 28.4 respectively. In terms of this particular indicator, VIA is the leader among the airports situated in the capital cities of Europe, most of which witnessed a reduction or only a slight increase in the number of flights.

As compared to the neighbouring countries, the growth in the number of flights served at VIA was the fastest with that in Riga Airport amounting to 11.1 per cent and the number of flights served at Tallinn Airport going down by 3.4 per cent.

“The figures and tendencies show that the company has chosen the right strategy, and that competitive pricing, effective management and the optimisation of business processes at Vilnius International Airport have resulted in positive outcomes,” – says Director General of VIA T. Vaišvila.

Another VIA statement noted that over 5 months of this year, the number of flights operated by VIA went up by 23 per cent, whereas the volumes of cargo increased by more than a quarter to 2052 tons. In May, the number of flights and volume of cargo went up by 44 per cent and 42 per cent respectively.

“The approaching summer and the abundance of regular and charter flights attracted lots of passengers travelling through Vilnius Airport” – said Director General of VIA, T. Vaišvila.

According to him, based on the results of 5 months, VIA has established itself in the second place among other airports of the Baltic States, following Riga (1.621 million passengers). Tallinn with 495 257 passengers is in the third position.

Currently, there are 15 airline companies operating 25 regular flights for passengers from Vilnius.  This year, VIA is planning to service about 2 million flyers.