The competition of Lithuanian airports for business flights from Vilnius to London City Airport was won by the Polish airline LOT.
"The winner selected on Friday is the Polish airline LOT. If the contract with them is successfully signed by the end of the year, there should be two flights to London City Airport from May," Minister of Communications Rokas Masiulis told BNS on Saturday.
"This is the flight that the Lithuanian business community has been asking for for several years, as one missing flight," added the minister.
Economy Minister Virginijus Sinkevičius told BNS that the contract with LOT should be concluded for five years.
"It is very important for us that that flight is permanent. There is really a flight of investors here, there are big names with whom we are negotiating and talking. We have said that there will be that business flight, because with all due respect to the airlines that fly, but it costs us a lot to keep the presidents of the companies outside at 6 o'clock. morning That business flight is very necessary, and I am very happy that my team and I managed to implement everything so quickly", said V. Sinkevičius.
According to R. Masiulis, due to this flight, for the first time in Europe, a sponsorship mechanism will be applied.
"A maximum amount will be provided. For example, if the planes fly empty, the maximum amount will be allocated. The more planes fill up, the less you will need to compensate. If they fill up, there will be no need to compensate at all", said R. Masiulis.
According to the Minister of Economy, the maximum amount per year will not exceed 3 million. euros.
According to R. Masiulis, it took two years to convince the European Commission to allow such a mechanism, because the EU is skeptical of state support for flights.
R. Masiulis said that the Commission gave the permission, understanding that it is not a competition with other airports, but simply a necessity for Lithuania.
"This was achieved through joint efforts with the Ministry of Economy, because it will allocate funds from its own resources, if that flight does not fill up, the LOT company will be allocated a certain amount, which will be agreed in the contract," the Minister of Communications told BNS.
According to him, if business flights to London prove successful, the same mechanism will be applied to others.
"The next flight that "Investuok Lietuva" is requesting is Munich, Paris," said R. Masiulis.
According to him, a business flight means a convenient time and a convenient airport.
"When you leave in the morning, come back in the evening, not those very, very early and very late flights. Second, a convenient airport, near London, London City, not Luton, from which you need to drive for an hour and a half. It is adapted more for entrepreneurs", explained the minister.
Lithuanian airports tried for several years to attract an air carrier to Lithuania that would fly to one of the main London airports. Spoke with the companies "British Airways", "EasyJet" and Latvian "AirBaltic", but the talks did not bear fruit.
The European Union prohibits the state from sponsoring airports or companies. Without the additional permission of the European Commission, the state can provide only a small aid for new flights - 200 thousand. euros in three years, but this is too little for such a flight.
As a result, at the beginning of this year, Lithuanian airports chose the Public Service Obligation procedure. According to it, the European Commission can allow an EU member to support the flights it needs.
Currently, only low-cost airlines fly to London from Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga - Hungarian "Wizz Air" and Irish "Ryanair".
Author: Jūratė Skärytė
