JAV opened the market for Lithuanian airlines: after conducting an audit of Lithuania's civil aviation management and flight safety assurance system, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave opportunities to Lithuanian air carriers to conduct commercial flights on US territory with aircraft registered in Lithuania.
In order for this process to run smoothly, all the necessary procedures and rules were harmonized so that airlines registered in Lithuania could operate flights both to and from the USA. Amendments to the Aviation Law were also made, and the fines provided for in the Code of Administrative Offenses for offenses related to aviation activities were increased.
"Lithuania, after almost 3 years of intensive work by the Ministry of Transport and the institutions, has successfully completed the audit procedure of the US Federal Aviation Administration and has been included in the list of countries in our target category. This creates favorable conditions for airlines operating in our country to conduct transatlantic operations. And this is an important impetus for the development of the country's aviation business and increasing competitiveness in the global market", says the Minister of Communications Marius Skoudis.
"I congratulate the Lithuanian government, especially the Ministry of Transport and the civil aviation authorities, on this achievement. This 1st category evaluation provides opportunities to expand relations and deepen economic ties between the United States of America and Lithuania", says US Ambassador to Lithuania Kara C. McDonald.
Airlines registered in Lithuania will be able to freely carry out operations in the USA not only from Lithuania, but also from other countries of the world. For example, a company based in the Caribbean region or, for example, Canada, which has leased an aircraft of a Lithuanian air carrier, will be able to order cargo or passengers to be flown to the USA via Lithuanian carriers using aircraft registered in Lithuania.
Depending on the nature of the flights - whether they will be one-off, charter or scheduled - air carriers will still need to go through certain procedures, apply and obtain permission from the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
In order to grant permission to operate flights in the US, the FAA conducts an audit of a foreign country's civil aviation oversight system, which audits its compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) civil aviation safety standards and assigns countries Category 1 or 2. The right to operate new flights to the territory of the United States is granted only to those air carriers whose countries are granted category 1. Such an audit was conducted in Lithuania in 2023. in April, the conclusions were later presented, and at the end of last year, FAA experts came to evaluate how to implement their additional requirements in order to conduct flights in the airspace of the United States.
"The whole process lasted about two and a half years, and more than one state institution worked on it - the Ministry of Transport, Seimas and the Government, the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration and the Public Transport Competence Agency. We are pleased that the work of our specialist team in preparation for the FAA audit was evaluated positively. We hope that Lithuanian airlines will successfully develop their operations in a new region where they have not operated flights before," says Mantas Kerdokas, the manager of this project, advisor to the Strategic Planning and Finance Department of the Transport Competence Agency (TKA).
To TKA's knowledge, 1 company has already submitted an application to fly in the US airspace. It is likely that 2 more carriers could take advantage of the opportunity to fly passengers, mail, cargo to or within the US.
Creation of new opportunities for the development of the activities of Lithuanian aviation companies and access to the USA and other priority markets is one of the guidelines of Lithuanian aviation until 2030. intended goals. These guidelines, prepared and approved a couple of years ago together with market participants, set priorities and strategic directions for developing the country's aviation sector and improving air transportation.
