Lithuania. Lithuanian Airports

The investment programme will upgrade the infrastructure of the airports of Vilnius (VNO), Kaunas (KUN) and Palanga (PLQ).

The projects include renovating the existing terminals in Vilnius and Kaunas as well as building a new departure terminal at Vilnius airport. In addition, part of the investments will go to renewing airfield infrastructure at all three airports and reconstructing the runway in Palanga.

Investments will accommodate for the passenger growth. This is critical for both Vilnius and Kaunas airports, as some of the areas of the current passenger terminals are operating at over their designed capacity.

State Enterprise Lithuanian Airports operates the country’s three largest airports of Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga. In 2019, Lithuanian Airports served 6.5 million passengers (PAX): 5 million in Vilnius, 1.2 million in Kaunas and 0.3 million in Palanga.

Vilnius airport:

The investment programme will upgrade the VNO’s infrastructure and increase safety, capacity and operational efficiency.

The largest investment is in the new departure terminal, which is expected to increase the airport’s capacity from the current 3.5 million to 7.8 million passengers per year.

VNO is the second largest airport in the Baltics. The airport is already running at full capacity and is expected to increase its passenger volume in the coming years, thus it is important to maintain the current service level and facilitate the development of a wider network of airline services.

Higher capacity will also reduce entry barriers in the airline services market. This will benefit customers through lower prices and increased variety in service offerings from airlines.

Kaunas airport:

The investments will upgrade the KUN’s infrastructure and more than double its capacity.

The airport expects these measures to attract more passengers and flight operators to the airport, which is operating above its current passenger capacity.

KUN is the second largest airport in Lithuania and is connected to the free economic zone of Kaunas. Despite a relatively low passenger volume, it brings value for the businesses and population of the Kaunas area.

Palanga airport:

The investments will improve the airport’s safety and ensure that PLQ can maintain its operations.

PLQ is the third largest airport in Lithuania and is located close to the country’s seaport city of Klaipėda. Despite a relatively low passenger volume, it has value for businesses, especially in the shipping and oil industries.

Expected impacts related to the investments:

Vilnius airport:

–  Investment cost: EUR 82 million

–  VNO total passengers in 2025: 6.8 million

–  VNO PAX turnover increase 2019–2025: 1.8 million

–  VNO EBITDA in 2025: EUR 40.8 million

Kaunas airport:

– Investment cost: EUR 14 million

– KUN total PAX in 2025: 1.4 million

– KUN PAX turnover increase 2019–2025: 0.3 million

– KUN EBITDA in 2025: EUR 1.2 million

Palanga airport:

– Investment cost: EUR 18 million

– PLQ total PAX in 2025: 0.41 million

– PLQ PAX turnover increase 2019–2025 million: 0.07 million

– PLQ EBITDA 2025: EUR 1.7 million

Overall, CO₂ emissions are expected to increase due to greater passenger and flight volumes, as air traffic is typically responsible for around 90% of greenhouse gas emissions related to airport activities.

Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions excluding air traffic related to airport operations at Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga were approximately 12,000 tonnes per annum (t/a) in 2017–2018 and 11,700 t/a in 2019. The carbon intensity per passenger (PAX) has decreased from 2.33 kg of CO₂e/PAX to 1.87 kg of CO₂e/PAX.

Vilnius airport aims to reduce the carbon intensity by 35% by 2021 compared to 2017, i.e. to 1.5 kg of CO₂e/PAX.

State Enterprise Lithuanian Airports is obliged to monitor noise emissions and report on noise levels for all three airports annually and updates the noise management plan for the Vilnius airport every second year.

The area of the night noise zone at Vilnius airport has increased from 5.35 square kilometres in 2017 to 6.50 square kilometres in 2019 due to a larger number of flights. The company shall establish noise protection zones based on the noise maps by 2021 and set-up compensations for residential buildings within those zones. The goal is to minimise the increase in noise zones due to the growth in flight volumes.

Soil and groundwater contamination surveys at all three airports were performed during 2019–2020. High contamination levels requiring immediate action were not identified, but remediation at the site of an old military base in Kaunas is ongoing. A survey on perfluorinated hydrocarbons was performed at Vilnius and Kaunas airports in 2018, as requested in connection with NIB’s previous loan. Very low traces of these chemicals were detected in one soil sample at Vilnius and one surface water sample at Kaunas. Hence, the risk associated with these substances is assessed to be low.