FlyLal

Infobox_Airline
airline=FlyLAL (Lithuanian Airlines)
logo=FlyLAL.pnglogo_size=200
fleet_size=14
destinations=18
IATA=TE
ICAO=LIL
callsign=LITHUANIAN
founded=1938
headquarters=Vilnius, Lithuania
key_people=Tadas Pukšta, C.E.O.
hubs=Vilnius International Airport
focus_cities=Palanga International Airport
frequent_flyer=Gintarinės mylios (Amber Miles)
website= http://www.flylal.com

FlyLAL (also known as Lithuanian Airlines and LAL) is the national airline of Lithuania based in Vilnius. It operates domestic and international scheduled services. Its main base is Vilnius International Airport Flight International 3 April 2007] .

History

The airline was established on 20 September 1938 and started operations on 29 September 1938 as passenger aviation company "Lietuvos oro linijos" (Lithuanian Air Lines), which possessed 2 Percival Q-6 aircraft. The airline started off with flights from Kaunas to Palanga and Riga. In 1940 Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. All flights in the country were operated by a regional branch of Soviet airline Aeroflot

The airline was re-established and renamed, Lietuvos avialinijos on 20 September 1991, shortly after Lithuania's independence from the USSR. It was organised on the basis of Aeroflot fleet based in Vilnius. During the period from 1991 to 1993, the Airline reoriented its route network from the countries of the former Soviet Union to Western Europe. Meanwhile, Russian - made planes were replaced with Western aircraft. Famous Irishman Tony Ryan can be considered the godfather of Lithuanian airline FlyLAL – Lithuanian Airlines. One of the most farseeing entrepreneurs in the world, founder of the airline Ryanair and the aircraft leasing company GPA (Guinness Peat Aviation), Tony Ryan in 1991, at the fall of the Soviet Union, put the whole Soviet aviation and political system to shame. Only half a year after Lithuania declared independence in October 1991 a Boeing 737 aircraft landed at Vilnius Airport. The airplane of unseen size was decorated with the flag of Lithuania with big Vytis (state emblem of Lithuania) on a red background, writing Lithuanian Airlines on its side was shining from afar. Tony Ryan took personal participation in the first marketing campaign in the capital cities of the Baltic States with the Boeing 737-200. It was given a special registration number LY – GPA, which demonstrated that the airplane is leased from the aircraft lease – GPA (Guinness Peat Aviation). In 1991 the Boeing 737 was introduced to the Lithuanian Airlines fleet, the first in the former USSR. Until 2005, 100% of shares were controlled by government of Lithuania. Fact|date=February 2007 After a decade of loss-making operation, aborted plans to launch a trans-Atlantic service, widely criticized sale of landing slots at London Heathrow and amassing tens of millions of litas in debt, in 2005 it was privatized and acquired by "LAL Investiciju Valdymas", who renamed the airline "FlyLAL - Lithuanian Airlines". It is wholly owned by the "FlyLAL Group" and has 542 employees (at March 2007).

National airline „FlyLAL – Lithuanian Airlines“ in the first quarter of 2007 year became the airline that have carried the biggest number of passengers from Lithuania. The airline, transporting the passengers from Vilnius and Palanga airports, during the period from January to March transported 107,6 thousand passengers, i.e. 18 percent more than last year.

In February 2007, the airline "FlyLAL – Lithuanian Airlines" was recognized to be the most punctual airline in Gatwick Airport, London. In one of the biggest European airports the Lithuanian national carrier got ahead of 38 competitors as per punctuality.

Charter flights of the company “FlyLAL – Lithuanian Airlines” from 2008 will be operated by a newly established company “FlyLAL charters”. In the future the airline itself is planning to schedule only regular flights. As an airline, “FlyLAL charters” will be a branch of the same “FlyLAL Group”.

Destinations

Fleet

FlyLAL – Lithuanian Airlines has planned to expand the fleet to a total of 24 -26 aircraft by 2010.

Historic Fleet:

* Antonov An-24B, An-26B
* ATR 42-300
* Boeing 737-2Q8/Adv, 737-2T2/Adv
* Saab 340B
* Tupolev Tu-134A
* Yakovlev Yak-40, Yak-42/42D

Livery

The first Boeing, acquired by Lithuanian Airlines, was painted in red, with white national coat of arms used as a logo. Soon, all LAL aircraft became white with yellow-green-red stripe (colours of national flag). This scheme can still be seen on several LAL aircraft. From 2005, after the company was privatized and renamed to FlyLAL - Lithuanian Airlines , color-scheme was switched to pink and white. Fact|date=February 2007

FlyLAL Technics

The Technical Department of FlyLAL, newly named FlyLAL Technics is EASA PART 145 approved Maintenance Repair Organisation.

Customers of FlyLAL Technics are:
*Régional – France
*Air Méditerranée – France
*airBaltic – Latvia
*RAF-Avia – Latvia
*Sky Express – Russia
*Aerosvit Airlines – Ukraine
*Transaero – Russia
*S7 Airlines – Russia
*Rossiya – Russia
*KD Avia – Russia
*Belavia – Belarus
*Aurela – Lithuania
*Aviavilsa – Lithuania
*Georgian Airways - Georgia

Codeshare partners

Currently, FlyLAL operates direct scheduled flights from Vilnius and Palanga to 18 destinations. In co-operation with its code-share partners the airline offers passengers convenient connections between Vilnius and over 600 cities of the world.FlyLAL has codeshare agreements with several airlines Fact|date=February 2007:

*Aeroflot
*Aerosvit Airlines
*Brussels Airlines
*DonbassAero
*Finnair
*Iberia
*KLM
*Rossiya

Passengers of the National airline flyLAL- Lithuanian Airlines can buy electronic tickets not only to direct but also to connecting flights. Upon signing partnership agreements with Dutch airline KLM and Spanish airline Iberia, customers of flyLAL - Lithuanian Airlines with electronic ticket can reach by connecting flights even more cities in Europe, USA, Brazil, other countries.

See also

*flyLAL Training

References

External links

* [http://www.flylal.com/ FlyLal official website]