newstodate.aero
Sep 16, 2011 (newstodate): After the demise of flyLAL in early 2009, Lithuania has been in need of a national carrier. And the city of Vilnius is keen to support efforts to set up new traffic by a carrier under formation, Lithuania Express.
-A national carrier is necessary for Lithuania. We have three international airports, good educated pilots, but still there are not enough connections between Vilnius and the world. We have only 25 direct flights from Vilnius, while for instance our neighbor Riga, in Latvia, has more than 100 direct flights, says Arturas Zuokas, Mayor of Vilnius.
-Vilnius will participate in ownership of the future national carrier, not necessarily the city itself, it might be that the city's companies will participate in this project. The project will eventually be a cooperation between private partners and the city.
-We do have negotiations with Chinese and Thai companies including tourism operators. Vilnius could be an excellent city for transfer flights in Europe. This is, however, not a precondition, but it will be a part of the project.
-Our plan is that our national carrier, Lithuania Express, would start flying next year. It will happen for sure. The main thing is that all relevant institutions cooperate and work together: the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Economy, Vilnius City Municipality, and other partners of the project, says Mr Zuokas.
The project Lithuania Express has been under preparation since 2009 headed by Icelandic national Thorsteinn Gudnason, Lithuania Express Project manager, and himself a member of the group of potential investors in the carrier.
Initially, plans were to launch operations from Vilnius by early 2010, already, to destinations including Berlin, Amsterdam and Copenhagen, but changed market conditions eventually kept ambitions on hold.
This summer a delegation from a Chinese company visited Lithuania for negotiations with Lithuanian Express as well as talks with Lithuanian authorities including Mr Zuokas, Mayor of Vilnius.
In September 2010, Bertolt Flick, airBaltic CEO, president and majority-owner through the investment company Baltic Aviation System, and Kristian Kirchheiner, former SAS executive and airBaltic's second president and CEO, also vented plans for establishing a new carrier in Lithuania
In June 2011, Mr Flick told newstodate that an announcement on the formation of the new carrier will be made by October 2011, and the start-up has now been revised to some time in 2012.
So far it has not been established if these two projects are actually one and the same - or competing.
-A national carrier is necessary for Lithuania. We have three international airports, good educated pilots, but still there are not enough connections between Vilnius and the world. We have only 25 direct flights from Vilnius, while for instance our neighbor Riga, in Latvia, has more than 100 direct flights, says Arturas Zuokas, Mayor of Vilnius.
-Vilnius will participate in ownership of the future national carrier, not necessarily the city itself, it might be that the city's companies will participate in this project. The project will eventually be a cooperation between private partners and the city.
-We do have negotiations with Chinese and Thai companies including tourism operators. Vilnius could be an excellent city for transfer flights in Europe. This is, however, not a precondition, but it will be a part of the project.
-Our plan is that our national carrier, Lithuania Express, would start flying next year. It will happen for sure. The main thing is that all relevant institutions cooperate and work together: the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Economy, Vilnius City Municipality, and other partners of the project, says Mr Zuokas.
The project Lithuania Express has been under preparation since 2009 headed by Icelandic national Thorsteinn Gudnason, Lithuania Express Project manager, and himself a member of the group of potential investors in the carrier.
Initially, plans were to launch operations from Vilnius by early 2010, already, to destinations including Berlin, Amsterdam and Copenhagen, but changed market conditions eventually kept ambitions on hold.
This summer a delegation from a Chinese company visited Lithuania for negotiations with Lithuanian Express as well as talks with Lithuanian authorities including Mr Zuokas, Mayor of Vilnius.
In September 2010, Bertolt Flick, airBaltic CEO, president and majority-owner through the investment company Baltic Aviation System, and Kristian Kirchheiner, former SAS executive and airBaltic's second president and CEO, also vented plans for establishing a new carrier in Lithuania
In June 2011, Mr Flick told newstodate that an announcement on the formation of the new carrier will be made by October 2011, and the start-up has now been revised to some time in 2012.
So far it has not been established if these two projects are actually one and the same - or competing.