With the first Air Lituanica aircraft taking flight on 30 June 2013, the company has been operating in the aviation market for six months now. Starting its flights in two directions, today Air Lituanica offers four regular flights to Brussels, Berlin, Prague, and Munich, and will begin flights to Paris on 14 February. Two new planes and new destinations are in the plans for the next year as well.
During six months of operation, the company has carried 50,000 passengers; its planes have taken off from European airports more than a thousand times. Air Lituanica’s planes have spent over 2,000 flight hours, used more than 3,000 tons of aviation fuel, and covered a distance of over 1.2 million kilometres – that’s almost 30 trips around the globe. Air Lituanica’s passengers have eaten 300 kg of sweets and drunk about 2,800 cups of coffee.
Reklāma
The 50,000th passanger was fixed on the 2nd of January on the second flight of new year. The lucky one - Mr. Saulius Gasiūnas was flying to Brussels with his family. He is working at NATO, so flying from Vilnius to Brussels is a part of his job.
The leading professional services company in the Baltic States, Ernst & Young Baltic, has calculated the added value that Lithuanian airline companies create: for airline companies, 1 passenger service cost averages EUR 183, 46% of which goes to service providers in Lithuania. The average cost per passenger per flight is EUR 360; so we can say that Air Lituanica passengers travelling to Vilnius have spent over EUR 3.1 million.
According to Airports Council International‘s calculations, all factors considered, the overall contribution of air transport to the Lithuanian economy is quite solid – about 12,000 jobs and EUR 420 million gross value added. One million passengers create about 3,000 jobs (directly – 950), therefore indirectly, having carried 50,000 passengers in six months, Air Lituanica has created about 100 jobs.
In the first half of 2014, Air Lituanica will add 2 new planes to its fleet and is planning to renew the Amsterdam destination and begin flights to Moscow. Also, this year the company will strive to carry over 150,000 passengers and be one of the leading traditional carriers operating at Vilnius Airport. By 2015, Air Lituanica’s flight map should consist of 13–16 destinations; the company also hopes to carry 500,000–600,000 passengers in two years.
Air Lituanica’s customers are serviced by 17 flight attendants, 11 pilots operate the planes, four technicians working 24/7 ensure the safety of flights and seven customer support professionals answer any customer questions.
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