Lithuania’s parliament, the Seimas, has approved new legislation allowing Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga airports to be run by a private operator.
The ruling has paved the way for a concessions program to be put in place to find an experienced international operator to take over and develop the three airports, currently run by state-owned operator Lithuanian Airports. The three airports handled a combined total of 4.2 million passengers in 2015.
Rimantas Sinkevičius, minister of Transport and Communications for the Lithuanian government, said, “The value of the aviation sector for the country’s economy is tremendous. I believe that this project will become another success story and enable successful competition with other Baltic states that have not yet taken this step.”
Gediminas Almantas, CEO of Lithuanian Airports, said, “It is indeed a remarkable achievement for all of us. The concession model is the best option for our market in order to develop the business activities of Lithuanian airports from a strategic perspective. By virtue of the best-practice model we will expand the development of the Lithuanian air transport sector and turn it toward a long-term strategy. I believe that in partnership with an experienced operator we will become the leaders in the Baltic region.”
InterVISTAS Consulting Group will act as the concession adviser to the Lithuanian government and will assist in several tasks including drafting the terms and conditions for the concession tender, defining the concession aims and objectives, and negotiating with participants in the tender.