Wizz Air will once again fly from all three airports in Lithuania
Wizz Air, which has been recalibrating its network, is bolstering its positions in a competitive market.
Lithuanian Airports (LTOU) has announced that Wizz Air is significantly expanding its services from/to Lithuania and also regaining its status as an airline that serves all three commercial airports in Lithuania.
On September 12, 2025, LTOU and Wizz Air stated that the low-cost carrier will open seven new routes from the country and will base its third Airbus A321neo aircraft at Vilnius Airport (VNO) starting with the upcoming winter 2025/2026 season.
This will result in additional connections and more choices for passengers, as well as more job opportunities, the airport’s statement read.
“Basing our third aircraft at our Vilnius base means even more travel opportunities for Lithuanian passengers and our long-term commitment to the market,” András Szabó, the Commercial Officer of Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East at Wizz Air, said.
“By becoming the second-largest airline in Lithuania, we are offering not only accessible flights, but we are also strengthening tourism and economic growth in the region.”
From Vilnius Airport (VNO), Wizz Air will begin flying to Tallinn Airport (TLL), Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK), Tirana Airport (TIA), and Podgorica Airport (TGD). Daily flights to TLL will begin on December 12, 2025, while to KRK, TIA, and TGD, Wizz Air’s first departures are scheduled for October 26, 2025, March 31, 2026, and June 7, 2026, respectively.
VNO-KRK will be flown four times per week, VNO-TIA will have thrice-weekly departures, and VNO-TGD will be operated twice weekly.
Wizz Air is also adding two new destinations from VNO: Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) and Turku Airport (TKU). During the upcoming winter season, both routes will be served thrice-weekly, with NCE services being reduced to twice-weekly during the summer 2026 season.
The airline’s only addition to Palanga Airport (PLQ) is flights to Oslo Gardermoen Airport (OSL), two times per week during the upcoming winter season, and thrice-weekly starting from March 31, 2026.
The low-cost carrier currently has a single route from Kaunas Airport (KUN) to London Luton Airport (LTN), served daily during the summer seasons, including in 2025 and 2026. With Wizz Air’s re-entry into PLQ, where its last flight departed on March 25, 2023, according to Cirium’s Diio Mi, it will become the third airline to fly from all three Lithuanian commercial airports.
Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that Ryanair and its subsidiaries have scheduled 175 weekly departures from VNO (85), KUN (86), and PLQ (eight) in September, while airBaltic, which currently has 88 weekly departures from VNO (77) and PLQ (11), will launch flights between KUN and Riga Airport (RIX) starting March 29, 2026.
Rytis Beresnevicius
Barring TGD, all of Wizz Air’s new routes are directly or indirectly competing with airBaltic’s route network. Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that in June 2026, when its seasonal services between the capitals of Albania and Lithuania return, airBaltic will operate flights from VNO to KRK, NCE, TIA, and TLL, as well as from RIX to TKU.
None of Wizz Air’s seven new routes directly overlap with Ryanair’s offerings, with the Irish low-cost carrier either flying from all three airports to London Stansted Airport (STN) or from VNO to OSL, in addition to other routes.
Undoubtedly, as Wizz Air has continued to adjust its network, exiting unprofitable ventures or bases at Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport (AUH) or Vienna Airport (VIE), and focusing on its core markets in Central and Eastern Europe, competition between airBaltic and the Hungarian low-cost carrier could heat up as Wizz Air eyes markets where it could base its aircraft.
Even before the new routes from VNO and PLQ were announced, Wizz Air’s weekly departing seats from Lithuania and TLL are up 11% year-on-year (YoY) in September 2025, compared to airBaltic’s Baltic State-wide weekly departing seats shrinking by 0.4% YoY.
airBaltic’s overall September 2025 weekly departing seats are up 11.5%, which includes flights that it will operate on behalf of Lufthansa Group airlines, such as Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS).
The Latvian airline, which has positioned itself as the flag carrier of the Baltic States, will take delivery of seven additional Airbus A220-300 aircraft by H1 2026, which it will have to base somewhere.
The question is whether airBaltic, which does offer a vastly superior passenger experience, in my opinion, at least, can sustain or is willing to compete with Wizz Air at airports other than RIX, where the Hungarian airline has not flown from since May 31, 2025, per Cirium’s Diio Mi.
airBaltic’s cash reserves are thin, with the company ending H1 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of €28.8 million ($33.7 million), a stark contrast to its H1 2024 liquidity of cash and cash equivalents of €105.3 million ($123.5 million).
The answer to the question in the paragraph above will unravel in the next few months or, perhaps, years. At least in the next few months, airBaltic planning to base a third A220-300 at VNO starting with the summer 2026 season.
