Summary
- Lithuania was upgraded to Category 1 status by the FAA.
- One Lithuanian airline has already applied to operate flights to or within the United States.
- While the country has no scheduled airlines, Lithuania-based carriers have a lot of experience in the ACMI business.
While no Lithuanian airlines are actively flying commercially, only offering their services on the aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) or charter markets, the country gaining Category 1 status could unlock some interesting possibilities for its ACMI services providers.
Three years of intensive work
According to a statement issued by the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications (Lietuvos Respublikos susisiekimo ministerija, SuMIn), Lithuania achieved Category 1 status from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), enabling the country’s airlines to conduct flights to/from and in the United States.
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The Ministry detailed that various procedures and regulations had to be harmonized to achieve the status, with amendments being made to the country’s Law on Aviation and aviation-related offense fines’ within the Code of Administrative Offenses.
Marius Skuodis, the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania, said that the country achieved Category 1 status after almost three years of intensive work by SuMin and relevant institutions. As such, the achievement,
“[…] creates favourable conditions for airlines operating in our country to conduct transatlantic operations. This is an important impetus for the development of the country’s aviation business and increasing competitiveness in the global market.”
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Submitting applications for flights in the US
Still, despite achieving Category 1 status, Lithuanian carriers will have to go through the regular procedures to operate itineraries in the US, which includes obtaining permission from the Department of Transportation (DOT). According to SuMin, one airline has already applied to operate within the country’s airspace, while two others should use the opportunity to submit their documents to operate flights to or within the US.
Photo: InsectWorld | Shutterstock
Currently, Lithuania has ten active airlines, according to data by ch-aviation. Barring two private jet charter companies, the other eight are engaged in the ACMI business, also offering their aircraft to tour operators to charter flights to various destinations. This includes DAT LT, a subsidiary of Danish Air Transport (DAT), KlasJet, TransAviaBaltika, GetJet Airlines, Heston Airlines, and Avion Express.
Both KlasJet and Avion Express belong to the Avia Solutions Group (ASG), while GetJet Airlines is part of the GetJet Holdings group, which also owns Malta-based Airhub Airlines and Latvia-based GetJet Latvia. Meanwhile, Heston Airlines is an independent ACMI operator.
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Spare capacity
One of the pressing issues in the US, as well as elsewhere in the world, is the current capacity shortage from either delivery delays or inspections and replacements of parts of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G, powering the Airbus A320neo family aircraft. As a result, airlines are struggling to grow their capacity in the upcoming year.
Nevertheless, ch-aviation data showed that Lithuania-based airlines have 75 aircraft: 35 Airbus A320/A321ceo, 19 Boeing 737, including five 737 Classics, 16 ATR 42/72, and two BAe Jetstreams. Only Heston Airlines has three widebody aircraft, namely a trio of A330s, registered as LY-MAC, LY-PLW, and LY-TKL. Two of them, LY-MAC and LY-TKL, currently operate flights on behalf of Uzbekistan Airways.
Currently, 18 out of the 75 aircraft do not have an ACMI customer assigned to them, meaning that there is some spare capacity available that Lithuania-based airlines could offer to other carriers, including those based in the US. However, some of the aircraft are currently in storage or maintenance.
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