Lithuanian Airports Breaks Passenger Record in 2024
Lithuanian Airports (LTOU), which oversees Vilnius, Kaunas, and Palanga airports, achieved a new passenger milestone in 2024, handling a record 6.6 million travelers. This marked a nearly 10 percent increase over 2023 and surpassed the pre-pandemic peak set in 2019, signaling robust recovery and growth across Lithuania’s aviation sector.
The year saw notable network expansion. Vilnius Airport welcomed Aegean Airlines with twice-weekly seasonal service to Athens and Icelandic low-cost carrier PLAY, which launched weekly seasonal flights to Reykjavik in April. Kaunas Airport experienced significant growth, with Ryanair adding a third based aircraft and introducing new routes to Berlin, Pisa, and Zadar. Palanga Airport also benefited from new connectivity as airBaltic inaugurated a long-awaited route to Amsterdam. Overall, network diversification was strengthened by increased capacity among traditional carriers.
Infrastructure development played a critical role in LTOU’s growth strategy. In February 2024, Vilnius Airport unveiled a new departure terminal that doubled its processing capacity, and an arrivals terminal is planned by 2028. At Kaunas Airport, ongoing terminal upgrades are set for completion in late 2025 and will increase passenger capacity to 2 million annually. These enhancements will also support simultaneous handling of six aircraft and facilitate up to 15,000 aircraft movements per year.
At Routes Europe, Tomas Zitikis, head of route development at LTOU, highlighted the strategic importance of the event in advancing the airport group’s connectivity objectives. He praised the value of face-to-face meetings with airline partners and noted that co-exhibiting with Travel Lithuania helped boost visibility and stakeholder engagement.
Looking ahead, LTOU is prioritizing stronger links to major European hubs, more frequent flights on existing routes, and the launch of new point-to-point services. The airport group is targeting unserved destinations like Geneva, Madrid, Stuttgart, and Gothenburg, all of which show strong indirect passenger demand. LTOU also continues to leverage its risk-sharing partnership model to secure new routes, a strategy that has already delivered connections to London City, Lisbon, Hamburg, and Dusseldorf.
In the long term, LTOU is setting its sights on developing transatlantic flights, driven by growing demand for direct connectivity to North America. The airport group remains active on Routes 360, where it shares updates with the route development community and engages potential airline partners in advance of key industry events.
With continued investment in infrastructure, a growing route network, and strong demand from both leisure and business travelers, Lithuanian Airports is positioning itself as a competitive and expanding gateway in Northern and Eastern Europe.
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