newstodate.aero
Jun 11, 2015 (newstodate): While the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport & Communications has ruled out any support to the country's ailing Siauliai Airport, efforts are still being made to rescue the debt-ridden company managing its civil aviation business.
-The meeting with the Ministry slated for Friday last week or Monday this week was called off at short notice, and no new meeting has been scheduled, says Alfredas Lankauskas, member of the airport working group, former mayor of Siauliai, and associate professor at Siauliai University, Doctor of Technology.
-The ruling politicians in Siauliai are now trying to call in some very important people to help us at this stage, also including finding solutions to the severe financial situation. And the mayor is also trying to involve the central government to step in to support us.
-Our proposal could be to turn the civil aviation part of Siauliai Airport into a branch of a stronger airport like Vilnius or Kaunas instead of being a municipality-owned entity. But the question is if our politicians are wise and strong enough to support this proposal.
-Another thing is that we urge the dismissal of the airport company's current general manager who is not capable of delivering what is needed at this stage. A decision on this by the Mayor is now on the agenda.
-So everything is not lost, only time is limited, and efforts are urgently needed to seek the return of the commercial traffic we have lost, says Mr Lankauskas.
With a 3,500m CAT 1 runway, Siauliai Airport in northern Lithuania is a former Soviet military airport and operating both military and commercial air traffic, mostly in the form of cargo operations charter flights.
-The meeting with the Ministry slated for Friday last week or Monday this week was called off at short notice, and no new meeting has been scheduled, says Alfredas Lankauskas, member of the airport working group, former mayor of Siauliai, and associate professor at Siauliai University, Doctor of Technology.
-The ruling politicians in Siauliai are now trying to call in some very important people to help us at this stage, also including finding solutions to the severe financial situation. And the mayor is also trying to involve the central government to step in to support us.
-Our proposal could be to turn the civil aviation part of Siauliai Airport into a branch of a stronger airport like Vilnius or Kaunas instead of being a municipality-owned entity. But the question is if our politicians are wise and strong enough to support this proposal.
-Another thing is that we urge the dismissal of the airport company's current general manager who is not capable of delivering what is needed at this stage. A decision on this by the Mayor is now on the agenda.
-So everything is not lost, only time is limited, and efforts are urgently needed to seek the return of the commercial traffic we have lost, says Mr Lankauskas.
With a 3,500m CAT 1 runway, Siauliai Airport in northern Lithuania is a former Soviet military airport and operating both military and commercial air traffic, mostly in the form of cargo operations charter flights.