Palanga International Airport

Palanga Airport
Palangos oro uostas
IATA: PLQICAO: EYPA
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Lithuanian state
Serves Palanga, Lithuania
Elevation AMSL 10 m / 33 ft
Coordinates 55°58′24″N 021°05′38″E / 55.97333°N 21.09389°E / 55.97333; 21.09389Coordinates: 55°58′24″N 021°05′38″E / 55.97333°N 21.09389°E / 55.97333; 21.09389
Website www.palanga-airport.lt
Map
PLQ

Location of airport in Lithuania

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
01/19 7,478 2,280 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Number of Passengers 145,441

Palanga International Airport (IATA: PLQ, ICAO: EYPA) is a regional international airport located near the resort town Palanga at the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest airport in Lithuania and focuses on short and mid-range routes to European destinations. It serves Lithuanian Baltic sea resorts of Palanga and Klaipėda and parts of western Latvia.

History

Palanga Airport started operations in 1937 at a site 7 kilometers East of the current terminal, near the Palanga-Darbenai road. The Lithuanian Air Force pilots were trained there. In 1939, the first scheduled airline service in Lithuania began operating on Kaunas – Palanga route.

From 1940–1941, and again in 1945–1963, the airport was used by the Air Force of the Soviet Union. The new air strip and facilities at the current site first appeared during the post-World War II period. In 1963, the airport was converted to a civilian airport. In 1991, Palanga Airport was re-registered as a national airport owned and run by the state.

Since 1993, the number of passengers passing through the airport has been increasing annually. Between 1994 and 1997, the passenger terminal was renovated. Passenger services and luggage handling was modernized to comply with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Between 1994–1995, the flight control center was refurbished. In 1996–1997 the runway surface, and in 1998 the airport apron and taxiways were renovated. Since 1997, the airport joined the major international aviation organization ACI (Airports Council International).

After Lithuania became a member of the European Union, passengers in 2004 increased more than 60% in comparison with that of 2003.

Infrastructure improvements continued in 2007 with the construction of North terminal to expand the terminals' area by 2000 m2 as well as to comply with Schengen border crossing regimen. In June–October 2007 the runway 01/19 was expanded to 2280x45 meters along with installation of LIH (high intensity) lighting and embedding the runway centerline lights. The facility expansion completed in 2007 has made long-range route servicing a possibility. Over two hundred people are employed by the airport facilities.

Terminals

Two adjacent terminals connected by short walkways and a transit area serve the airport:

Because of one-level terminal buildings layout where both departures and arrivals are handled on the ground floor level, there are no jet bridges at the airport. Passengers are transported to and from the aircraft by specialized shuttles.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
airBaltic Riga
Belavia Seasonal: Minsk-National
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal: Warsaw Chopin
Norwegian Air Shuttle Oslo-Gardermoen
RusLine Seasonal: Moscow Domodedovo
Ryanair Glasgow (begins 26 March 2017),[1] London–Stansted
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen
Ukraine International AirlinesSeasonal: Kiev-Boryspil
Wizz Air London-Luton

Statistics

Rank Country Airport 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
1. Latvia Riga International Airport 5,162,149 4,814,073 4,793,213 4,767,764 5,106,692 4,663,647 4,066,854 3,690,549 3,160,945 2,495,020 1,878,035 1,060,426
2. Lithuania Vilnius International Airport 3,436,084 2,942,670 2,661,869 2,208,096 1,712,467 1,373,859 1,308,632 2,048,439 1,717,222 1,451,468 1,281,872 964,164
3. Estonia Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport 2,166,663 2,017,291 1,958,801 2,206,791 1,913,172 1,384,831 1,346,236 1,811,536 1,728,430 1,541,832 1,401,059 999,941
4. Lithuania Kaunas International Airport 747,284 724,315 695,509 830,268 872,618 809,732 456,698 410,165 390,881 248,228 77,350 27,113
5. Lithuania Palanga International Airport 145,441 132,931 127,890 128,169 111,133 102,528 104,600 101,586 93,379 110,828 94,000 76,020

Ground transportation

References

Media related to Palanga Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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