Ministries join efforts with municipalities to further increase the number of flights from Palanga

The Ministries of Transport and Communications, Economy and Innovation, the Association Klaipėda Region, and seven member municipalities of this Association have agreed to work together to attract to Palanga International Airport new flight destinations important for business and inbound tourism in the Klaipėda region and to stimulate demand for flights.

The Cooperation Agreement signed in Palanga today to promote flights demonstrates, according to Marius Skuodis, Minister of Transport and Communications, the strategic approach of the ministries and the municipalities of the region to the importance of improving air connectivity for the competitiveness and attractiveness of the country. The municipalities of Klaipėda City and District, Palanga City, Neringa, Kretinga, Skuodas and Šilutė districts have joined this agreement.

“We keep mobilising the capacities of different authorities for focused work together to ensure convenient air transport to/from strategic flight destinations. Our common goal is to pool funding for the supply of flights and, most importantly, for the demand, so that more passengers use them. The recently renovated Palanga International Airport has great potential, and we can expect at least 2 additional strategically important destinations here,” said Marius Skuodis, Minister of Transport and Communications.

“The tourism sector is an integral part of Lithuania's economic growth, so it is essential to consistently expand its potential. We have set an ambitious goal to increase the share of the added value generated by the tourism sector to 4.5% by 2030, and we are actively looking for new flight destinations and partnerships to ensure the growth of this sector,” said Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of Economy and Innovation.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications, together with Lithuanian Airports, allocates more than EUR 1 million each year to ensure the availability of the existing routes from Palanga Airport. Currently, six cities are accessible from Palanga Airport: Amsterdam, Riga, Oslo, Copenhagen, Dublin, and London.

“For the performance results in Palanga to grow in the future, it is critical that we start investing consistently in demand growth, inbound tourism, and visibility of the region, which we see as the most important common denominator of this agreement. This agreement is an excellent example of cooperation, where the authorities join their efforts for boosting inbound traffic from strategic countries,” said Simonas Bartkus, CEO of Lithuanian Airports.

Under the agreement, the ministries will make effort to add two additional destinations from Palanga Airport to the list of the routes important for business and inbound tourism in the Klaipėda region. At present, the list includes two existing routes to Amsterdam and Copenhagen from Palanga Airport and an additional route to Hamburg. At the same time, the aim will be to secure public funding to increase the number of flights from this airport.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport and Communications will seek to broaden the regulation by making it possible for local authorities to contribute to the financing of the supply of flights – to make decisions on their own which routes are most necessary, select the carrier and sign a contract.

AB Lithuanian Airports will draw up a plan for the development and expansion of Palanga International Airport for the next three years, including additional measures to attract airlines and discount systems of airport charges. The Association Klaipėda Region that brings together the municipalities of Klaipėda County, will work to increase the visibility of Palanga International Airport and the entire region. 

“The region of Western Lithuania stands out by its appeal in the area of tourism. Therefore, it is natural that we want to promote the whole region as much as possible. One of the ways is to attract the routes important for business and inbound tourism by implementing flight promotion measures. Not only all seven municipalities of the region, but also the Ministries of Transport, Economy and Innovation are contributing to this,” said Bronius Markauskas, Mayor of Klaipėda and President of Association Klaipėda Region.   

A similar agreement on investment in air transport and improvement of the visibility of the capital city was signed in October 2023 by the Ministries of Transport and Communications, Economy and Innovation with the Vilnius City Municipality. The aim of the agreement is to consolidate and coordinate the capacities of the different authorities to ensure sustainable flights and passenger flows for strategic routes.

As part of the project to promote the development of flight routes, several strategically important destinations, such as London City, Lisbon and Hamburg, have been added to the map of flights from Lithuania over the last year. In addition, convenient connections with Lithuania's strategic partner Germany have also been secured. There are ten regular routes between Lithuania and Germany at present, with flights to as many as six largest airports in Germany – around 50 flights a week in total.