FlyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines

flyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines
IATA code :	TE
ICAO code :	LIL
Call sign :	LITHUANIAN
Founding:	1991
Operation stopped:	2010
Seat:	Vilnius , Lithuania
Home airport :	Vilnius airport
Fleet size:	14th
Aims:	continental
flyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines ceased operations in 2010. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

AB flyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines (formerly Lithuanian Airlines , Lietuvos avialinijos ) was an airline based in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius . After the discontinuation of scheduled flight operations on January 17, 2009, it only existed as the charter airline FlyLAL Charters . In summer 2010 it was replaced by the successor company Small Planet Airlines .

history

As the first airline in the Baltic States, AB Lietuvos avialinijos ( Lithuanian Airlines ) started its own flight operations in 1991. The fleet, consisting of eight Tu-134A , five Jak-42D , seven Jak-40 , four An-24 and three An-26 (freighters), was taken over by the former Aeroflot directorate. The company immediately oriented itself towards Western Europe and Scandinavia. A Boeing 737-200 rented by the Irish GPA Group made the maiden flight to Copenhagen on December 20, 1991. During the establishment of flight operations, the Hungarian Malév acted as a consultant and took over the pilot training for the Boeing 737. At the end of 1992 Lithuanian became a full member of the IATA . With the purchase of further Boeing 737s, several Tu-134s could be sold, and buyers were also found for the An-24 and Jak-40, so that the fleet could be further standardized.

In 1994 the airline introduced a new paint scheme for aircraft. With the commissioning of the Saab 340 and Saab 2000 regional props in 1996 and 1998, the remaining Tu-134A was decommissioned. The Jak-40 were transferred to the subsidiary Aviakompanija Lietuva . In 1999, Lithuanian Airlines introduced another new color scheme for their aircraft. In 2000, AB Lietuvos avialinijos had 1,090 employees.

In 2005 the previously state-owned company was privatized to a group of investors. Since then, the company has operated under the “flyLAL” trademark and has offered Internet booking in addition to electronic tickets. In March 2006, a takeover of 33% of the shares by the Swedish airline FlyMe was announced, but in March 2007 it filed for bankruptcy. The operation of the FlyLAL was not affected. FlyLAL announced in early 2008 that it would become an associate member of the SkyTeam alliance and thus a possible candidate for permanent membership in this alliance. At the same time, FlyLAL charters was founded , which was to take over all of the airline's charter flights , initially with a Boeing 757-200 .

In January 2009, the Lithuanian aviation authority flyLAL withdrew the flight permit, as security was no longer guaranteed due to the company's financial difficulties. As a result, flyLAL ceased operations on January 17, 2009. The last scheduled flight came from Amsterdam and landed in Vilnius on January 17, 2009 at 0:05 am. On January 23, the bankruptcy declaration was filed with the Vilnius court. The flyLAL books show liabilities of 90 million litas (around 26 million euros) and airline tickets sold to the value of 6 million litas (1.7 million euros).

After tough negotiations, the subsidiary FlyLAL charters received a license to operate holiday flights in the spring of 2009. B. to Turkey and Greece. If the outcome of the legal dispute with Air Baltic and Riga Airport is positive, the investors are interested in a possible resumption of scheduled operations due to fee dumping and have therefore not yet withdrawn their capital.

Since July 3, 2009 the new Lithuanian scheduled flight company Star1 Airlines has taken over some of the previous flyLAL destinations from Vilnius.

2010, as the successor of FlyLAL charters the Small Planet Airlines established.

Destinations

International destinations from Vilnius Airport were recently Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Madrid, Brussels, Paris, Dublin, London Stansted, London Gatwick, Stockholm, Tbilisi, Tel Aviv, Thessaloniki, Milan, Rome, Frankfurt am Main, Odessa, Tallinn, Riga, Moscow and St. Petersburg. International destinations from Klaipeda / Palanga Airport were London and Dublin, there was also a national connection between Vilnius and Klaipeda / Palanga. (Only in summer).

Codeshare agreements existed with Air Baltic , Finnair and LOT .

fleet

Boeing 737-500 in old livery

(As of November 2008)

• 3 Boeing 737-300
• 6 Boeing 737-500
• 2 Boeing 757-200
• 3 Saab 2000

See also

• Former Airlines List (Europe)

Web links

Commons : FlyLAL  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of FlyLAL (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ FlyLAL becomes Small Planet Airlines August 20, 2010.
2. ↑ Register data from flyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Didžiausi darbdaviai ( Memento of the original of August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Verslo žinios . January 3, 2000.  
4. ↑ "flyLAL" kreipėsi į teismą dėl bankroto Message on the bankruptcy declaration, January 23, 2009, delfi.lt (Lithuanian)
5. ↑ flyLAL will renew flights from Vilnius if the case against airBaltic and Riga Airport is won . In: The Baltic Course . (English, baltic-course.com ).
6. ↑ flylal.com: ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: FlyLAL fleet ) November 2nd, 2008