Summary

  • Palanga Airport’s (PLQ) scheduled flights have not recovered to their 2019 levels.
  • However, the airport has begun introducing new destinations to its network.
  • This includes Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), launched by airBaltic.

Palanga Airport (PLQ), a small regional airport in Lithuania’s west, is probably unknown to many people, even aviation enthusiasts. After all, its pre-pandemic route network included ten destinations in 2019, with some, such as Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), being seasonal routes, according to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium.

Lagging post-pandemic recovery

The airport’s most popular destination was nearby Riga Airport (RIX), with the two airports being separated by 112 nautical miles (207 kilometers). Nevertheless, airBaltic operated 692 flights from PLQ to RIX in 2019, or 35.8% of its total traffic.

The second-most popular destination was Copenhagen Airport (CPH), exclusively marketed by SAS Scandinavian Airlines and operated by Ireland-based CityJet. Over the year, 598 flights comprising 31% of PLQ’s total departing traffic operated the route.

Palanga Airport (PLQ)

Photo: Lithuanian Airports

However, Cirium data showed that PLQ had 1,929 total one-way flights from the airport throughout the year, averaging 5.8 weekly one-way flights, 737.3 weekly one-way seats, and 539,366 weekly one-way available seat kilometers (ASK) in 2019. The airport served ten destinations, including three seasonal routes, as displayed in the table below.

Destination

Yearly departing flights

Market share

Bergen Airport (BGO)

17

0.88%

Copenhagen Airport

598

31%

Dortmund Airport (DTM)

73

3.7%

London Luton Airport (LTN)

181

9.3%

Minsk National Airport (MSQ)

24

1.2%

Oslo Gardermoen Airport (OSL)

154

7.9%

Riga Airport (RIX)

692

35.8%

London Stansted Airport (STN)

107

5.5%

Moscow Vnukovo International Airport (VKO)

4

0.2%

Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW)

79

4 %

Total

1,929

100%

By 2023, the airport has not recovered to its pre-pandemic levels. The three commercial airports in Lithuania – Vilnius Airport (VNO), Kaunas Airport (KUN), and Palanga – all managed by Lithuanian Airports (LTOU), have not recovered to their pre-pandemic levels of flights.

Nevertheless, according to Tomas Zitkis, a Route Development Manager at LTOU, traffic flows to Western countries have grown beyond even what was seen before the pandemic.

At Palanga, the airport is inching closer to traffic levels last seen before COVID-19. The airport now has 1,822 departing flights to seven destinations, including some that were on PLQ’s route network in 2019.

Destination

Yearly departing flights

Market share

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS)

61

3.3%

Copenhagen Airport (CPH)

681

37.3%

Dublin Airport (DUB)

83

4.5%

Oslo Gardermoen Airport (OSL)

234

12.8%

Riga Airport (RIX)

536

29.4%

London Stansted Airport (STN)

227

12.4%

Total

1,822

100%

Related

A Brief Guide To Lithuania’s Main Commercial Airports

Let’s take a closer look at the three major airports in Lithuania.

Baltic States’ connectivity

While four of the seven destinations were present on the airport’s route network in 2019, one crucial development occurred in 2024: airBaltic opened direct flights between PLQ and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), one of Europe’s major transcontinental hubs with destinations worldwide.

One of the major problems of the three Baltic States is the lack of direct connectivity to transcontinental destinations, whether the United States or leisure-oriented points on the map, such as Vietnam or Thailand. All transcontinental flights (with few exceptions, such as Dubai) served directly by airBaltic from VNO and RIX are served through third-party hubs, such as AMS, Paris Charles de Gaulle, or Frankfurt Airport.

airBaltic Airbus A220 at Vilnius Airport VNO

Photo: Karolis Kavolelis | Shutterstock

Whatever the case might be, airBaltic has become the key that has unlocked many of the doors for the three Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The airline has effectively connected the states with some of the key airports in Europe.

airBaltic has scheduled 522 departures out of the three Baltic States to various European destinations plus DXB, with the next busiest airline being Ryanair, with 321 departures to airports within Europe.

However, unlike Ryanair, airBaltic, a hybrid airline that also offers a European business class experience, has extensive codeshare agreements with around two dozen airline partners. These include Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, SAS, Emirates, and others. Its most extensive is with the two Air France-KLM airlines.

Nevertheless, airBaltic has also begun a codeshare agreement with Delta Air Lines, allowing Delta Air Lines to place its airline code on flights to RIX, VNO, and Tallinn Airport (TLL). PLQ was not on the list of destinations.

Related

Crucial Connectivity: airBaltic Set To Begin Codeshare Agreement With Delta Air Lines

airBaltic and Delta Air Lines will begin codesharing on flights, providing crucial connectivity options for passengers based in the Baltics.

Key destination

Nevertheless, on May 29, 2024, airBaltic began serving the PLQ – AMS route, operating two weekly flights between the cities. Mantas Vrubliauskas, the Vice President of Network Development of airBaltic, stated that the airline was excited to expand its services from PLQ to AMS, with the route greatly enhancing the connectivity of Western Lithuania.

“[…] with more than 100 destinations connected via Amsterdam, this route will also be important in attracting new visitors to the beautiful Western Lithuanian region. This new route is a testament to our excellent cooperation with Lithuanian airports and [the] Klaipeda region.”

KLM Boeing 787-10 Taxiing In New York

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

And while the airBaltic – Delta Air Lines codeshare partnership does not include flights from/to PLQ, the Latvian airline’s partnership with KLM provides plenty of opportunities to fly to major airports in the US.

For example, KLM flies to 12 US airports in June 2024, meaning that now, over 570,000 people living within the 80-kilometer (49.7-mile) catchment area, per LTOU, have access to one-stop flights to at least 48 destinations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North America, and South America via KLM’s network at AMS.

Related

airBaltic Expands Network With Direct Flights Between Palanga And Amsterdam

The airline will connect the two cities twice weekly.

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