“The finale of the summer season was impressive; the results of Lithuanian Airports were better than the EU growth average. Palanga remained one of the most promising airports in Europe and during the third quarter of the year was only behind Iași Airport in Romania in terms of growth rates. These results once again confirm the appropriateness of the general airport direction in the country as new destinations offered to Lithuanians and guests have been hugely successful,” said Gediminas Almantas, the CEO at Lithuanian Airports.
According to Airports Council International Europe, during peak months the best results were demonstrated by airports in Southern and Eastern Europe. Results that were better than the EU average were achieved by airports in Lithuania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, and Poland. However, the number of people flying to non-EU countries continued decreasing (-4.7 per cent); the results of Norwegian airports were worse than expected.
“Summer was full of contrasts and challenges, primarily geopolitical and terrorism-related. Although a search for safer holiday destinations was a priority for travellers, in September the situation in Turkish airports improved. There is a clear tendency for active marketing and competition of low-cost airlines to create preconditions for faster growth of smaller airports. In addition, the arrival of “Ryanair” to one of the largest air transport hubs, Frankfurt Airport, as if marks the beginning of a new era when increasingly popular trips will create a hybrid airport market for low-cost carriers,” said Olivier Jankovec, the CEO at ACI EUROPE.
The aviation expert also notes that the traditional airport segmentation becomes increasingly irrelevant. “Traditional airport classification into mega transport hubs, secondary transport hubs, medium hubs and small airports is no longer as important, which suits travellers very well,” said O. Jankovec.
In the group of the largest airports, the fastest growth was demonstrated by the airports in Dublin, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and London Gatwick. In the group of small airports, in which Palanga Airport holds the second place, Palanga succeeded in surpassing the airports in Kharkiv, Keflavík (Iceland) and Lublin (Poland).
