Vilnius International Airport

Vilnius International Airport is Lithuania's largest and busiest airport, serving the capital Vilnius and the surrounding eastern Lithuanian region, drawing catchment from the country's 2.8M population and cross-border traffic from western Belarus. Located 3.7 mi (6 km) south of Vilnius city center at 648 ft (198 m) elevation, VNO is unusually close to its host city — among the shortest airport-to-city center distances of any European capital. The airport handles 95 routes across 60 destinations through 21 airlines. No legacy home-based carrier has operated at VNO since flyLAL's 2009 collapse, making Lithuania one of the few European countries without a meaningful national airline — a structural feature that has shaped the airport's network into an LCC-dominated pattern. Ryanair and Wizz Air are the dominant operators, each running substantial base operations with aircraft overnight stationed at VNO. AirBaltic — the Latvian-based regional carrier — provides the bulk of full-service connectivity with a network emphasis on its Riga hub and direct service to Scandinavia, Germany, and Eastern Europe. Additional service is provided by Lufthansa (Frankfurt, Munich), LOT, KLM, Finnair, Turkish Airlines, SAS (seasonally), easyJet, Norwegian, Bulgaria Air, Pegasus, and various seasonal charter operators. VNO's proximity to Minsk (just 112 mi / 180 km by road) made it a principal alternative routing point for Belarusian travelers following the 2021 closure of direct Belarus-EU air service. The airfield operates a single asphalt runway — 01/19 at 8,251 ft (2,515 m) — adequate for all narrowbody and light widebody operations. The historic original terminal, an architecturally significant Stalinist-era building dating to 1954 with a distinctive colonnaded facade, is a preserved heritage landmark that houses airport administration and some auxiliary functions. The main passenger operations run through expanded 1990s and 2010s terminal buildings connected to the original structure. Lithuanian Airports, the state-owned operator of VNO plus Kaunas and Palanga, has advanced a long-planned new terminal project designed to roughly double current capacity, with construction stepping through the mid-2020s.