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Founded | 1991 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | 17 January 2009 | ||||||
Operating bases | Vilnius International Airport | ||||||
Focus cities | Palanga International Airport | ||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Gintarinės mylios (Amber Miles) | ||||||
Fleet size | 13 | ||||||
Destinations | 13 | ||||||
Headquarters | Vilnius, Lithuania | ||||||
Key people | Vytautas Kaikaris, CEO | ||||||
Website | flyLAL.com |
flyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines (also known as Lithuanian Airlines and LAL) was the national airline of Lithuania, based in Vilnius. It operated domestic and international scheduled services. Its main base was Vilnius International Airport.
Due to financial difficulties, flyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines suspended operations on 17 January 2009. FlyLal's sister airline, FlyLal Charters, continues to operate normally under a separate license, although in July 2010, FlyLal Charters was rebranded as Small Planet Airlines.
The airline was established as government-owned Lietuvos avialinijos on 20 September 1991, shortly after Lithuania's independence from the Soviet Union. It was organized on the basis of the Aeroflot fleet located in Vilnius (twelve Yak-42, seven Tu-134, four An-24, and three An-26). During the period from 1991 to 1993, the airline reoriented its route network from the countries of the former Soviet Union to Western Europe. In December 1991, the Lithuanian Airlines sub-leased its first Boeing 737-200 from the Malév Hungarian Airlines. Six months later it was leased directly from Guinness Peat Aviation and bore registration LY–GPA. From the beginning, the airline faced stiff competition with Lufthansa and Scandinavian Airlines.
After a decade of a loss-making operation, abortive plans to launch a trans-Atlantic service, the widely criticized sale of landing slots at London Heathrow to cover some 20 million of USD in debt, it was privatized in 2005. The airline was acquired by LAL Investicijų Valdymas, a wholly owned subsidiary of the FlyLal Group, for 27 million litas. The airline was subsequently renamed as FlyLal – Lithuanian Airlines. In February 2007, FlyLal was recognized as most punctual airline at Gatwick Airport, London. It had 542 employees as of March 2007. As of December 2007, the airline had three Boeing 737-300, five Boeing 737-500 and four SAAB 2000 and had plans for further expansion. During 2007, the number of passengers grew by 14% to 526,000. In 2008, charter flight services were transferred to sister company FlyLal Charters leaving only schedules flights for FlyLal.