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Virginijus Čiškauskas, head of the Transport Activities Division of the Lithuanian Transport Security Administration (LTSA), reported that so far there are no suspended routes or trips, except for seasonal ones, which are not run out of season.
The order of the Minister of Transport and Communications is currently being coordinated. It should be signed on Thursday and already announced on Friday. The order will provide that trips can be suspended during quarantine if the flow of passengers has decreased by at least 50%.
Therefore, there are likely carriers who want to stop trips. For example, LTSA has received a request from Kautra to suspend 54 flights. There is a possibility that we will arrest them starting next Monday. And in terms of frequency, it has changed only in a few routes and not all the changes have been caused by the quarantine, ”the specialist noted.
According to him, not all routes will be closed, but according to the quarantine decree, travel by public transport will be restricted.
“This was the situation during the first quarantine, in the spring. And the alternative to long-distance communication is trains, although they also slightly restricted the possibilities of movement,” said V. Čiškauskas.
He suffered 8 million. loss of euros
Gintaras Nakutis, president of the Lithuanian Passenger Transport Association, stated that all carriers had already applied to the LTSA for temporary route suspension.
“Currently, the number of passengers has decreased by 50 percent. Compared to last year. Already during the first wave of the coronavirus, carriers suffered losses, trying to recover slightly in the summer, but during the second wave, the passenger numbers began to decline again.
In March-September, carriers suffered 8 million. lost. The most affected companies were those that were chartered abroad, they went to Italy, Spain and others. country. They are in the same situation as the tourism sector. There were no more trips, so these companies were out of work. They may have to wait a year or more to receive the first orders after the pandemic ends.
Therefore, companies cannot keep employees inactive for that long and the employees themselves start looking for work elsewhere. After all, while they are in downtime, they only receive the minimum wage, so they look for a job where they would earn more, ”commented the representative of the carriers.
According to G. Nakutis, companies carrying passengers in Lithuania are suspended for several months.
“Most of these companies sacrifice passengers because they hope to resume operations soon,” said an airline spokesman.
Routes will be reduced but the network will be maintained
Laut Skardžiukas, CEO of Kautra, said passenger flows are decreasing threateningly.
“Every year during the winter, passenger flows decrease. However, this year is exceptional, as the quarantine has further reduced that passenger flow, we have lost 50% on certain routes – up to 70 percent passengers.
If at the beginning of the late weekend we felt a greater influx of passengers, this year there were only a quarter of the passengers compared to last year ”, explained the head of the company.
According to him, so far the buses run on all routes, none have been canceled yet.
“It just came to our notice then. The carrier business is licensed, so we cannot be self-employed. The decision to suspend routes must be approved by the LTSA.
However, the routes are really rare, passengers will have to adapt to the changes for the time being. Also, during this period, we noticed that your habits changed. If in the past the biggest flows were on weekends, now we see that people travel more by bus during the week, ”commented L. Skardžiukas.
According to him, the companies will reduce the routes, but will make an effort to maintain the long-distance network.
“We will endeavor to cause passengers as little inconvenience as possible. Now the largest passenger flows are noticeable between the major Lithuanian cities and people hardly ever go to the regions. However, we will make at least some trips to the regional centers so that people can get there, ”said L. Skardžiukas.
According to him, the company was already operating at a loss in the summer.
“It just came to our attention then. We hope that the loss of revenue will be offset by other company services, such as bus shipments. People use this service, they need it,” explained L. Skardžiukas.
Arūnas Indrašius, CEO of another company, Toks, said passenger flows were down by more than 60 percent.
“We conducted a route review and made the decision to suspend 19 routes, we submitted a request to LTSA to close these routes.
We have reduced the route network by addresses, we have left fewer routes and the buses will run less frequently.
And employees and drivers serving the stopped routes will experience downtime, ”commented A. Indrašius.
Surprising government decisions
G. Nakutis, President of the Lithuanian Passenger Transport Association, carriers are suffering not only from a pandemic, but also from government institutions.
“The Competition Council (CC) has decided to terminate contracts with 42 carriers next year. The CC ruled that LTSA violated the Competition Law by extending contracts on the operation of certain routes with carriers, since it does not allow the entry of new companies to market.
We understand that there must be competition, but it is illogical to make such a decision during a coronavirus pandemic, when carriers are in financial difficulty. In addition, the CC does not give us any transitional period, resolves the contracts immediately and does not know how the selection of carriers with whom those contracts will be re-signed will be selected. Therefore, it is possible that the possibilities of long distance communication are interrupted during a certain period of time ”, commented the representative of the carriers.
L. Skadžiukas, the director of Kautra, also does not understand why the CC is making changes in such a difficult period.
“The interurban business is maintained with private funds, the state does not support it. And even trying to hurt during a pandemic.
Surprisingly, the state institutions do not agree with each other, the CC disputes with the LTSA, which even received a fine. We do not fully understand why contracts with carriers that comply with all CC rules will be terminated. All transportation companies coordinate routes and schedules at certain addresses, which are approved by LTSA, ”explained L. Skardžiukas.
25 stopped train trips
LTG Link, the passenger transport company of the Lithuanian Railways Group, announced that since November 9, due to the tense situation of the coronavirus in the country and the decrease in passenger flows, 25 train trips have been suspended in ten routes, and another 14 flights will be rescheduled.
“Changes are being implemented on the following routes: Vilnius – Jašiūnai, Vilnius – Airport, Vilnius – Varėna – Marcinkonys, Vilnius – Trakai, Vilnius – Kaunas, Vilnius – Turmantas, Kaunas – Marijampolė, Radviliškis – Šiaviažuliai – Mažeikiaziė” Šiaviažiys ” the company announced.
“The situation is dire – there are hundreds of new coronavirus cases every day, universal quarantine is being introduced, and strict restrictions are being introduced.” We need to change our habits again: science and work are returning to remote paths. Understandably, this translates into fewer people traveling by train.
We register a decrease in passenger traffic: from Monday to Friday, depending on the route, the traffic is lower by 30-40%, on weekends – up to 50%, compared to the same period last year. Therefore, as during the first wave, we make responsible decisions and reduce the number of trips, but maintain the necessary long-distance communication, ”said Linas Baužys, Director of LTG Link.
Passengers also decreased at Lithuanian airports
The challenges of the pandemic also negatively adjust the aviation indicators of Lithuanian airports. According to airports, passenger traffic was down in October, from more than 20 percent last month. lower than in September.
In October, the country’s three air gates served just over 77,000. passengers. The highest proportion of travelers is registered at the Vilnius airport (53 thousand), followed by the Kaunas airport (17 thousand) and the Palanga airport (6.6 thousand). In comparison, in September, which was also characterized by a decrease in passenger traffic, a total of more than 100,000 passengers were served. passengers.
In October, one of the largest passenger flows went to British airports and from there to Lithuania. More than 18,000 people traveled back and forth on these routes last month. passengers.
According to Aurimas Stikliūnas, Head of the Lithuanian Airports Aviation Services Department, the decreasing number of passengers and flights is determined by ever-changing travel restrictions.
“It must be recognized that the biggest challenge for aviation is the regularly changing travel rules. People cannot plan trips: every potential opportunity to fly hangs by the hair at all times. And the figures show that the desire to travel is not found nowhere. After all, after removing the respective countries from the lists of affected countries, the filling of aircraft jumps twice, “said A. Stikliūnas.
Lay off some employees
The representative of Lithuanian airports Tadas Vasiliauskas confirmed that the number of employees working in operations management will be reduced in the near future. A total of 48 workers will be laid off.
“It just came to our notice then. It is a very difficult decision for us because we are going through one of the most difficult periods in the entire history of aviation. We view layoffs as a last resort, but we must take them.
In the summer, we had to say goodbye to some of the administrative staff. This was done for the same reasons as now, ”said an airport spokesman.
According to him, already at the beginning of the year, when the global pandemic broke out, extensive internal efficiency measures were taken.
“We have reduced costs, employees have been inactive, a large proportion of employees are working and will be working in a number of functions that have been trained.
Without a doubt, we will say goodbye to all our colleagues in accordance with all the regulations of the Labor Code. We offer our free expert assistance to all outgoing colleagues, we try to help them enter the job market as soon as possible, we provide personal professional consultations, specialists in our personnel department help with all problems that may arise in the search for other career opportunities ”, Assured T. Vasiliauskas.
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