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Lithuania’s airport network includes three air gates in Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga. During 2019, they served 6.5 million. passengers and 62 thousand. flights, but this year these numbers are incomparably lower.
It is estimated that 43.3 thousand people were attended in November of this year. passengers, when 496,563 people flew through Lithuanian air gates at the same time last year.
For this reason, Lithuanian airports will have to say goodbye to a fifth of employees this year.
Despite the unenviable situation, M. Gelžinis is not without optimism.
“I cannot be pessimistic, I have to be optimistic and infect others,” said the interview. 15 minutes I speak.
– We are currently living a new reality, as many say. What does this new reality mean for airports?
– It was necessary to adapt very quickly, learn a lot, because nobody had experience in handling a situation like the fight against the coronavirus. Furthermore, we still do not have the same requirements in Europe and we are not in the so-called European bubble. Now, with ACI Europe, which links airports, we are trying to harmonize the bans and permits requirements so that they are the same in all countries.
– And do you think it is realistic to achieve it?
– Maybe not one hundred percent, but about 80 percent. possible. Of course, for example, our Latvian neighbors banned flights between Vilnius and Riga due to the pandemic situation in Lithuania. Although the World Health Organization says bluntly that travel should not be prohibited, the prevalence of COVID-19 among travelers is less than one percent. Therefore, it is not necessary to exclude this group from the total mass.
Lithuanian Airports Photo / Marius Gelžinis
– And what is the situation at Lithuanian airports in terms of flight and passenger statistics?
– In October, we had about 77 thousand. passengers, in November about 43 thousand. passengers. The number of passengers has dropped, but we expect a recovery in December because people want and some have to travel.
Airlines feel this and see it in their sales systems. We expect that in December there will be flights from 1800 to 1900 at all airports in Lithuania, or about 40 percent. December 2019 flow. The situation is not bad, because people’s desire to travel has not disappeared.
– Tallinn, Riga airports estimate that traffic has decreased by 70 during the 10 months of this year.–80 percent. Are we in a similar situation or have we survived better?
– Unfortunately, the numbers are similar, around 80 percent. decrease.
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