The reconstruction of the Vilnius Airport is nearing its end. The Lithuanian transport hub will sport a new runway and departure terminal, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT and Jonas Deveikis report.
The reconstruction of Vilnius Airport took three years to complete and cost more than 36 million euros. The works were the largest in history and included around 200,000 square metres of new pavement (equivalent to almost 500 basketball courts) and 76 kilometres of the electricity supply network.
After the reconstruction, the airport could serve up to 10 million passengers a year, with aircraft landing and taking off every three to five minutes, said Dainius Čiuplys, head of Operations and Infrastructure Department at Lithuanian Airports.
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According to him, the reconstruction was vital because the runway had major defects that caused «security threats». A new runway has now been constructed and the old one fixed.
«In the past, aircraft had to turn around on the runway, which was time-consuming and did not utilise the airport’s potential. Now, aircraft can take off and land every three to five minutes,» Čiuplys told LRT.lt.
The works also included building a new aircraft parking.
«Now, we can accommodate more aircraft. It was a necessary step before the construction of a new departure terminal,» Čiuplys said.
«Another aspect is that we are reducing carbon emissions. The reconstruction will help reduce aircraft time on a runway, which will lead to less pollution,» the company’s representative added.
The article originally appeared on LRT English: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1563597/ten-million-passengers-and-mega-runway-future-of-aviation-after-vilnius-airport-reconstruction
Vilnius Airport expected to accommodate 10 million passengers after reconstruction
