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Jan 31, 2023 (newstodate): With a total of 21,000 tonnes of cargo and mail handled in 2022, Lithuania's three international airports managed by Lithuanian Airports came on a par with the Baltic region's largest airport, Latvia's Riga Airport.
   But while Lithuanian Airports saw volumes up by four percent, y-o-y, Riga Airport's volumes dipped 24 percent in 2022 due to the strong drop in traffic, notably in the transit segment.
   Now, Lithuanian Airports is working on a dynamic - and ambitious - strategy to become the leader in the Baltic countries in terms of volumes of cargo and mail transported by air by 2030.
   -Riga Airport's management is determined and focused on air cargo development and will definitely compensate for the lost traffic, says Arijandas Sliupas, former Chairman of the Board of Lithuanian Airport and also holding the position as Lithuania's Vice Minister of Transport and Communications.  
   -However, the Lithuanian Aviation Guidelines aim to significantly improve the country's air connectivity, increase contribution to economy, and create a greener aviation sector by 2030.  
   -Moreover, the strategy is also to increase the service capacity and volume of e-commerce cargo flows intended for Lithuania or onward transportation outside of Lithuania and the ability to adapt to changing cargo delivery trends.
   -Developing such projects together with air carriers, logistics companies, online trade companies and other partners, Lithuanian Airports will aim to become by 2030 a leader in the Baltic countries in terms of the volumes of cargo and mail transported by air, says Mr Sliupas in his LinkedIn post.
   As one example to prove the current inequalities between the Baltic region's key airports, Mr Sliupas lists the airport charges for an aircraft landing, measured per tonne of MTOW: 8.74 euro at Vilnius Airport, 15.06 at Kaunas Airport, 10.54 at Palanga Airport, compared to 2.05 at Riga Airport and 7.5 at Tallinn Airport.
   -So, to land a 442 t MTOW Boeing 747-8F in Vilnius is four times and in Kaunas even seven times more expensive than in Riga. Not very competitive, I would guess.  
   -It may not be a critical component of air freighter operations, yet we all are looking for ways to minimize the cost, spend less - and Lithuanian Airports are clearly losing here, he says.