Inside Vilnius Airport’s Busiest Routes

With an annual passenger count of 4 million, Vilnius Airport (VNO) is the second busiest airport in the Baltic States, following Riga Airport (RIX). It holds a prominent position as one of the primary gateways to Eastern Europe and serves as Lithuania’s largest airport.

Simple Flying has contacted Vilnius Airport to acquire the most up-to-date information regarding the busiest routes at the airport between January and August 2023. It is worth noting that while the airport shared the top five busiest routes, it did not disclose the exact passenger numbers on these routes due to this being “commercially sensitive information.”

5 Oslo (OSL)

Oslo ranks as the fifth busiest destination from Vilnius Airport. This route enjoys direct service from two airlines, namely Norwegian and Ryanair. Norwegian operates three weekly flights (DY1083) using its fleet of Boeing 737-800 jets.

Meanwhile, Irish low-cost giant Ryanair has seven weekly flights (FR150), utilizing its Boeing 737-800 aircraft. It is worth noting that Oslo (OSL) was ranked as the fourth busiest destination from Vilnius Airport last year. But as we will see, almost all of the top destinations served out of VNO have moved around over the previous 12 months.

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In addition to Norwegian and Ryanair, Wizz Air also offers direct service from VNO to Oslo, although it lands at the city’s secondary airport, Torp Sandefjord Airport (TRF).

4 Istanbul (IST)

A notable addition to Vilnius Airport’s list of busiest routes is Istanbul Airport (IST). Surprisingly, in 2022, this airport did not even make the list, but it has now ascended to the fourth busiest destination from VNO.

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Turkish Airlines stands as the sole provider of direct service between Lithuania’s capital and Istanbul. With flight TK1408, the Turkish flag carrier offers a schedule of seven weekly flights connecting these two destinations. According to Flightradar24.com, the airline typically deploys its relatively new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on this route, capable of accommodating a total of 151 passengers in a two-class configuration.

3 London Luton (LTN)

Being a longtime popular destination from VNO, the route to London Luton Airport (LTN) has remained consistently among the top 5 over several years. In 2022, LTN airport held the position as the second busiest route from VNO. However, according to the latest data, LTN has now dropped to third place.

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Since Luton Airport serves as a central hub for low-cost airlines like Ryanair and Wizz Air, it comes as no surprise that these two airlines dominate the Vilnius to London Luton route. With flight FR3467, Ryanair offers seven weekly flights using its Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Meanwhile, Hungary-based Wizz Air also operates seven weekly flights from Vilnius to LTN airport (W68001), using its fleet of Airbus A320 jets.

2 Riga (RIX)

The Baltic region’s busiest airport, Riga (RIX), is situated just 300 kilometers away from Vilnius. However, it secures the second position primarily due to its role as a convenient connecting airport for direct flights to other destinations served by airBaltic.

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Latvia’s national carrier serves over 70 destinations from its hub at RIX, while the airline operates flights to just 13 airports from its neighboring base at VNO. airBaltic is the sole carrier serving the Vilnius to Riga route, offering two daily flights seven days a week (BT344 and BT342) using its Airbus A220 aircraft. In 2022, this route was the third busiest from Vilnius Airport.

1 Warsaw (WAW)

Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW) remains the busiest destination from VNO airport for the second year in a row. Poland’s national airline, LOT Polish Airlines, is the only airline flying directly between VNO and WAW airport. According to Lithuanian Airports, the route between Vilnius and Warsaw has long been significant for both business and leisure travelers. This is because the Polish capital serves as an essential aviation hub, offering numerous connecting flights to destinations worldwide.

Photo: Przemyslaw Szablowski/Shutterstock

LOT offers three daily flights seven days per week (LO780, LO776, and LO772). The airline uses the Embraer E190, Embraer 195, Embraer E175LR, and Embraer E170 regional aircraft fleet on this route. Additionally, LOT is the carrier with the highest frequency of flights on a single route within the entire network of Lithuanian airports.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever flown from VNO airport? Let us know in the comments section below.