Vilnius Airport is seeing some significant retail upgrades.
Lithuanian Airports
The operator of Vilnius and Kaunas airports in the Baltic state of Lithuania has given existing retail partner, Gebr. Heinemann, a nine-year extension to its contract at the two gateways. The award was made by Lithuanian Airports (a majority state-owned joint stock company) to Travel Retail Vilnius (TRV), the German travel retailer’s local subsidiary.
To get the extension, TRV has promised to update its product range and deliver “an exceptional customer experience.” Oleg Zhytomyrsky, Gebr. Heinemann’s director of sales for Eastern Europe and Central Asia commented: “After 17 years as a concessionaire, we were still able to demonstrate that we are a future-oriented partner.”
TRV’s retail upgrades will support plans by Lithuania to make its two main gateways more important within the wider Eastern Europe air market as outlined by 2052 master plans for both locations, drawn up late last year.
The aim is to establish Vilnius and Kaunas airports as hubs in the Baltic region even though they are only about 60 miles apart. The thinking is that because they serve different passenger groups, hub options are possible despite their geographical closeness.
Vilnius, which serves the capital city of the same name, mostly caters to business and individual travelers, but is still dominated by low-cost carriers like Air Baltic (Latvia’s national airline), Ryanair, and Wizz Air. Kaunas serves more vacation destinations and is even more reliant on low-cost carriers.
Retail to contribute towards $32m non-aero by 2028
The differentiated traveler segments determine the retail offers at Vilnius and Kaunas which processed 4.4 million and 1.3 million passengers respectively in 2023. Lithuanian Airports, which also operates a third, smaller international airport called Palanga, has ambitions to make non-aviation—which includes retail and food and beverage (F&B)—a bigger component of its overall revenue over time.
By 2028, the company expects non-aviation revenue to jump to about €30 million ($32 million) helped by rising traffic and increased spending per passenger. The latter deliverable will rest largely on the shoulders of Heinemann and SSP, which has just signed a seven-year contract to run 13,000 square feet of F&B space at Vilnius from next year.
There will be a 40% bigger commercial footprint at Lithuania’s main airports by 2028 dedicated to catering, shopping and leisure. By then, passengers will be able to choose from almost twice as many dining options as today.
Gintarė Norvilaitė-Tautevičė, the commercial head at Lithuanian Airports, said: “The additional commercial space will allow for new brands which can be presented more attractively. Despite the turbulence in aviation in recent years, we are sticking to our plan to purposefully expand our commercial spaces.”
Notable changes at Lithuania’s airports from 2025
The improvements will starting with the opening of Terminal T4 at Vilnius early in 2025, followed by larger-scale infrastructure revamps at both Vilnius and Kaunas airports. The conversion work at Kaunas is planned to be completed by August 2025 while work at Vilnius will be finished by Q1 2026.
TRV is already working on a new walk-through store in Vilnius Airport that will have more promotional areas, product presentations, and self-checkouts. Orinta Amelija Ambrazevičienė, CEO of TRV, commented: “Currently, consumers mostly focus on regional products like local alcohol and sweets, as well as tobacco products. But the beauty segment is on an upswing, and travelers will soon find a dedicated area for niche perfumes.”
Conservative estimates predict a 5% increase in passenger volume in Vilnius and a 7% increase in Kaunas in 2025. Meanwhile all three international airports in Lithuania are forecast to have a total annual capacity of 10 million by 2030, rising to 17 million passengers by 2052.
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Publish date : 2024-12-04 21:02:00
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