TRANSPORTATION in Lithuania

Revised/Updated: 7/15/05

Indexes of Gross Receipts by Transport and Communications Establishments

Quarterly Average in year 2000 = 100

Source: Statistics Department , Republic of Lithuania

 Air Transportation

Lithuania has two major international airports serviced by the Lithuanian National Airlines “Lithuanian Airlines” and number of major European Airlines, including Lufthansa, Finair, SAS, LOT Airlines.  In 2003 Lithuanian airline carried 328.8 thousand international passengers (236.4 thousand in 1995) on scheduled flights to dozen countries.  Scheduled air service is available to and from London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Warsaw, Helsinki, Tallinn, Oslo, Moscow and Kiev.  The airport at Vilnius is conveniently located at the outskirts of the capital, short distance away (about $10 taxi ride) from downtown hotels.  The airport at Palanga, Baltic Sea resort, is only 25 kilometers away from the port city of Klaipeda.

In 2003 the Lithuanian airports handled 792,600 arriving and departing passengers (431.600 in 1995) plus13,049 tons of cargo (18,033 in 1995).

Sea Transportation

Port of Klaipeda is the northernmost ice free port on the Eastern shore of the Baltic Sea.  In 2003 over 31.9 million tons of cargo was shipped through this port (16.13 million in1997).   98.9  thousand  international passengers arrived or left Port of Klaipeda (36.4 thousand in 1997) on the number of international ferries.  The port can accommodate ships up to 195 meters long and the draft of less than10.5 meters.

Sea-ferries offering  passenger service operate to and from Baltic ports of Kiel and Mukran in Germany, Abus in Sweden and Copenhagen and Frederica in Denmark

Rail Transportation

All major Lithuanian cities are interconnected by 2205 km long network of railroad lines, of which 1774 km are in service (2003).   Express passenger service is available along the major lines interconnecting the cities of Vilnius, Kaunas, Siauliai and Klaipeda.  Lithuanian rail lines are an integral part of the major Central and Eastern European international rail system.  In 2003, ttal of 43.5 mil. tons of goods, of which 30.0 million tons was international traffic, were carried by Lithuanian rails (total of 30.5 mil. tons in 1997) .  In 2003 the railroads carried 7 million passengers (11.2 mil. in 1997) of which almost 1 mil were international travelers (2 mil. in 1997). 

Road Transportation

78.9 thousand km. road system, of which 70,2 are paved, interconnects the country's cities, towns, and villages. 1913 km of the road system are expressway type highways linking the capital city of Vilnius, Kaunas, the port city of Klaipeda and other major cities.  Integral part of the sytem is the “Via Baltica” the major North-South international thoroughfare from Tallinn in Estonia to Warsaw, Poland.  Only 8.7 thousand km. of local roads, serving the smallest communities and settlements, are still without hard paved surface.   Unlike some of the street in some of cities and towns, all state roads appear to be well maintained and are in excellent condition.  

The country's roads are more than adequate to handle the current road traffic demands.  Traffic on the inter-city connecting roads flows unencumbered at or above the speed limits.  Although since return of democracy, the number of privately owned automobiles has dramatically increased,  this,  possibly due to high cost of fuel, has not created congestion problems even in the cities.  The number of privately owned automobiles grew from 510,562 in 1991 to 835,462 in 1997 and3.16 million in 2003.  An extensive bus system remains the prime mode for inter-locale travel.  In 2003 there were 15,543 buses (14,888 in 1997) providing public transportation service.  In 2003 the buses carried more than 193.4 million passengers (345.5 in 1997), with the average length of haul per passenger equal to 8 kilometers.  In addition international bus traffic accounted for additional 994.2 passengers (1.3 million in 1997) using Lithuania’s road system.

Other Transportation Facilities

Petroleum Pipe Lines (500 km) through which 31.275 million tons of crude oil and petroleum products petroleum were transported in 2003 (18.11 mil. in 1995).

Offshore oil terminal (off village of Butinge)

788 km of navigable inland waterways  with 425 km currently utilized for shipment of goods (2003).

In 2003:

      ISDN subscribers:   12,500

      DSL subscribers:    25,000

      Cellular telephone subscribers (active):  2,152,600 (equal to 62.5% of population)