Airport operator Lithuanian Airports has contracted construction company Eikos Statyba for €41.5m (US$35.9m) to build the passenger departure terminal at Vilnius Airport in Lithuania.
The terminal will be built between the VIP terminal and conference center and the old passenger terminal. Eikos Statyba intends to build an A++ energy-efficient departure terminal with a total area of more than 14,000m2 and to redevelop 34,000m2 of the airport’s access by the end of 2024.
The building will have two floors, with a self-service check-in area on the ground floor, where passengers will be able to check in for their flights as well as check in their luggage. There will also be common public spaces, cafes and other commercial areas, as well as airline offices. The building will include all the necessary technical areas, such as baggage screening and sorting and engineering systems. After construction of the terminal, the total area of Vilnius Airport’s terminals will increase by one third and the passenger capacity will more than double (from 900 to 2,400 passengers per hour).
The company had won an earlier tender, but the contract was not signed then due to the geopolitical situation, with a sharp increase in construction and material prices, and the mandatory legal regulation of public procurement, which restricts the signing of a contract by modifying the pre-publicized terms of the contract on price indexation. The Public Procurement Service was also intensively consulted on the tender conditions for the Vilnius Airport Departures Terminal contract. Five companies took part in the procurement and submitted their tenders.
Arnas Dūmanas, head of the operations and infrastructure department of Lithuanian Airports, said, “Faced with legal challenges, we kept up our preparations for the new procurement – we held a public consultation and presented major changes to the procurement documents. As a result, we were able to quickly respond and successfully implement the new procurement.”
Marius Skuodis, minister of transport and communications, said, “Lithuania’s main airport must be convenient for passengers, meet international standards and perform its functions properly. The new terminal at Vilnius Airport will make a significant contribution to the development of the aviation sector, opening up new capacity opportunities. As passenger traffic at the airport grows, it is important to ensure comfortable service conditions that meet modern standards.”
Almantas Čebanauskas, head of Eikos Statyba, added, “We appreciate the public sector’s ability to react quickly and flexibly in a changing geopolitical and economic situation, and to prioritize the development of such important national infrastructure projects regardless of the current situation. We believe that the experience gained in the construction of complex structures, including our already completed Vilnius Airport VIP terminal construction project, will significantly contribute to the successful implementation of the new terminal construction.”
Dūmanas said, “As aviation moved from recovery to growth, investment in the new terminal was essential. The capacity of the old terminal is no longer sufficient to meet demand. We forecast that by 2030 we will be handling around 10 million passengers, so the arrival of this terminal is one of the stages of preparation for the growing passenger flows. The construction of the new terminal sets a new quality bar for infrastructure and the investment will pay for itself in 10 to 15 years.”
