newstodate.aero
Oct 29, 2009 (newstodate): Lithuania's second-largest international airport, Kaunus Airport is to fight for retrieving its share of the Baltic air cargo market.
Kaunas Airport was earlier the leading transfer airport in the Baltic region of ex-China exports to Russia, but after the enforcement of EU's noise ban on IL-76 operations from 2004, volumes dwindled from annual levels around 10,000 tonnes to less than 2,000 tonnes in 2008.
-But we will definitely go for a return of air cargo operations to Kaunas, says Ricardas Vandzinskas, Kaunas Airport finance director.
-Cargo volumes have dropped by some 50 percent as well in Estonia's Tallinn Airport that has taken over the ex-China Russian transit cargo, reflecting also current negative economic trends in the Baltic home markets with decreasing volumes of imports on top of even smaller volumes of air cargo exports. But this is not to last.
-We are now seeing increases in volumes of passenger flights driven by Ryanair's sustained development at Kaunas Airport, and I am convinced that we will be in a good position to win back our share of the Baltic airfreight market as well when recovery returns.
-Our business conditions will improve further if the government decides to go through with the plan to turn Lithuania's airports from state ownership to public limited companies. This will allow us to move on commercial terms with partners and investors from the private sector - and we would focus on cargo business alongside sustained efforts to build up the airport as a Lithuanian hub for low-cost operators, says Mr Vandzinskas.
Kaunas Airport was earlier the leading transfer airport in the Baltic region of ex-China exports to Russia, but after the enforcement of EU's noise ban on IL-76 operations from 2004, volumes dwindled from annual levels around 10,000 tonnes to less than 2,000 tonnes in 2008.
-But we will definitely go for a return of air cargo operations to Kaunas, says Ricardas Vandzinskas, Kaunas Airport finance director.
-Cargo volumes have dropped by some 50 percent as well in Estonia's Tallinn Airport that has taken over the ex-China Russian transit cargo, reflecting also current negative economic trends in the Baltic home markets with decreasing volumes of imports on top of even smaller volumes of air cargo exports. But this is not to last.
-We are now seeing increases in volumes of passenger flights driven by Ryanair's sustained development at Kaunas Airport, and I am convinced that we will be in a good position to win back our share of the Baltic airfreight market as well when recovery returns.
-Our business conditions will improve further if the government decides to go through with the plan to turn Lithuania's airports from state ownership to public limited companies. This will allow us to move on commercial terms with partners and investors from the private sector - and we would focus on cargo business alongside sustained efforts to build up the airport as a Lithuanian hub for low-cost operators, says Mr Vandzinskas.