According to Rokas Masiulis, the Minister of Transport and Communications, who attended the runway opening ceremony, the reconstruction had undoubtedly become the most important event on the aviation market in Lithuania this year and an example of a successfully implemented particularly complicated project.

“The runway reconstruction was necessary and important to the country as a whole. We are glad that the works were done well and according to schedule, despite not always favourable weather conditions. In addition, Kaunas Airport deserves special gratitude because it, with the help of colleagues from other airports, successfully fulfilled the task of temporarily becoming Lithuania's air gateway to the world.

We are also grateful to border, customs, and police officers for excellent work. We are also pleased with our cooperation with services that checked the quality of the works and strictly controlled the quality of the runway reconstruction works. So, preparation for the management of the entire reconstruction project was excellent. I hope that the return to Vilnius will be as smooth,” said R. Masiulis.

Gediminas Almantas, CEO at Lithuanian Airports, emphasised the huge contribution of the company itself and the employees of the contractors that performed the reconstruction works.

“The professionalism of specialists in various fields and their considerable effort made this project a reality. I am also very proud of the entire team of Lithuanian Airports that was united and focused as never before. The employees of the airports in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Palanga as well as the administration of Lithuanian Airports worked earnestly and tirelessly to make sure that work during those 35 days goes smoothly and to minimise inconvenience for the passengers,” stated G. Almantas.

The representatives of the company “A.C.B” that manages the reconstruction work agreed with him.

“Top-quality team work helped to stay on schedule and even to complete some tasks earlier than planned. In addition, we did not hear any quality-related complaints from institutions that supervise the works. We are glad that we participated in implementing this infrastructure project that is important to Lithuania as a whole,” said Valdis Lejnieks, the chairman of the board at “A.C.B”.

The runway reconstruction work at Vilnius Airport started on 14 July. During 35 reconstruction days, the runway and the approaches were fundamentally renovated: the soil next to the runway was reinforced, rainwater collection and drainage systems were replaced, power supply networks were fully updated, a new three-layer asphalt surface was laid and a new generation LED signal lights system was installed.

The runway reconstruction at the largest airport in the country was carried out by the consortium of undertakings led by the Latvian company “A.C.B.”. The reconstruction works cost approximately EUR 19,000,000.

About Lithuanian Airports

The network of Lithuanian Airports includes three air gateways in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Palanga. In 2016, they handled 4.8 million passengers and 52,000 flights. During the summer season, 17 airlines organise flights from Lithuanian airports in 69 directions to 59 cities in 26 countries. According to Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe), Lithuanian Airports contribute 2.5 per cent to Lithuania’s GDP.

www.vilnius-airport.lt