Palanga International Airport ( lt, Tarptautinis Palangos oro uostas) is a regional international airport located near the resort town

Palanga Palanga (; bat-smg, Palonga; pl, Połąga; german: Polangen) is a seaside resort town in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest summer resort in Lithuania and has sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long ...

at the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

. 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

and the city of

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuania ...

, and parts of

Samogitia Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

and western Latvia.

History

Palanga Airport started operations in 1937 at a site 7 kilometers East of the current terminal, near the Palanga-Darbėnai 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 The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

(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 Airports Council International (ACI) is an organization of airport authorities aimed at unifying industry practices for airport standards. Established in 1991, its headquarters (ACI World) are based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its members ...

). After Lithuania became a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, 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: * The South Terminal was built in the seventies and modernized in the late nineties. It has been serving as the check-in area for all flights. It also houses airline offices and cafe/bar facilities. * The new North Terminal opened on 26 October 2007, with 2000 m² (21520 sq. ft.) of space, to augment airport capabilities to serve arrivals and departures to and from non-

Schengen zone The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

countries. Because of one-level terminal buildings layout where both departures and arrivals are handled on the ground floor level, there are no

jet bridges A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...

at the airport. Passengers are transported to and from the aircraft by specialized shuttles. Departure Area at Palanga Airport

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Palanga:

Statistics

List of the busiest airports in the Baltic states This is a list of the busiest airports in the Baltic states in terms of total number of Passengers, Aircraft movements and Freight and Mail Tonnes per year. The statistics includes major airports in the Baltic States with commercial regular traffi ...

Planes used at the airport

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

Airbus A220-300(mainly used by air Baltic)

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...

Bombardier Q400(usage has been discontinued since 2022-07-20) CRJ900

CRJ200 The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 (previously Canadair CRJ100 and CRJ200) is a regional jet designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace between 1991 and 2006, the first of the Bombardier CRJ family. The ''Canadair Regional Jet'' (CRJ) pro ...

ATR 42

Ground transportation

* Motorway A13 connects the airport with southern

(7 km) and

(32 km) * Motorway A13 connects the airport with northern

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important ice-f ...

(63 km) * A public bus links the airport with Palanga and Klaipeda coach bus stations. * Scandinavian Airlines passengers are serviced by shuttle bus operating between Klaipėda and the airport. * Latvian transfer company Flybus.lv provides transfer service from Palanga airport to Liepaja (LV) and vice versa. Shuttle buses are connected with Ryanair, WizzAir, Norwegian and other flights.

References

External links

Official website
* {{authority control Airports in Lithuania Airports built in the Soviet Union Buildings and structures in Palanga

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

International airports in Lithuania