Ryanair to invest in Lithuanian airport
This is very big, and good, news for Lithuania and all the Baltics. Ryanair is ready to invest in Lithuania, at a time it needs it the most, and no doubt using some of it's "muscle" to get lower taxes from both the local authorities and the airport authorities.
I'd love to see the actual numbers, because I think the calculation of the 140 million dollars is not FDI, but rather money that takes into account the number of planes being stationed there, the number of routes that Ryanair promised to have from Kaunas, and with it the pilots, flight attendants and other airport staff. So it's a little naive to believe there's a big fat check coming from Ryanair to Kaunas. But still it's a positive investment.
On the other hand, who seems more and more distant from the rest of Europe and form the lowcost hubs of Eastern Europe, is Tallinn. I had the opportunity to speak to the head of Tallinn Airport last December, and he told me they have no plans to decrease their fees to accommodate a low cost airline like Ryanair. Of course everyone in Estonia wants more low cost companies operating here, but they are simply not willing to go bellow operating costs to have Ryanair fly here.
That decision means that the Tallinn Airport company won't be asking the government for support just to attract more airlines here. It's a fiscally responsible decision, and I respect it. But you can't ignore the fact that Riga, and now Kaunas, are becoming what Tallinn long ago sought to be. The low cost airline, and business hub of the Baltics.
Ryanair to put $140 million in Lithuanian hub
4 days ago
VILNIUS, Lithuania — Budget airline Ryanair will establish a major hub in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, its first in Central and Eastern Europe, the company's chief executive announced Tuesday.
Ryanair will $140 million into the project, CEO Michael O'Leary told reporters in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, adding that Ryanair would introduce 18 new routes from Kaunas and employ 150 pilots and flight attendants to serve them.
Ryanair has been searching for a hub in Eastern Europe for several years, and O'Leary said the discount carrier chose Lithuania because of its attractive business climate, good infrastructure and rapidly growing passenger numbers.
Kaunas authorities slashed airport taxes last year after Lithuania's main carrier, flyLAL, was forced into bankruptcy, depriving the country of its own airline.
Ryanair will allocate two new Boeing 737-800 aircraft to the Kaunas hub, O'Leary said. He said he expected passenger numbers at the Kaunas airport to more than double this year to 1 million. The hub is also expected to create 1,000 jobs.
Kaunas, an hour's drive from Vilnius, is Lithuania's No. 2 city but has one of the highest rates of joblessness in the Baltic state of 3.4 million people.
O'Leary said Ryanair was considering opening other hubs in Eastern Europe.
Posted
by Joao Rei
Violent protests in Vilnius, Lithuania
The riots of recent days in Riga are now spreading to neighboring Lithuania, where a riot broke out today after a peaceful demonstration was taking place in front of the national parliament building.
One begs to ask, will the same happen here in Tallinn?
http://www.delfi.lv/news/world/baltics/article.php?id=22953015http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/22135/
What began as a peaceful protest near the Lithuanian parliament building has turned violent as protesters clash with police.
The Baltic Times estimates that at least 5,000 people attended the protest, which was aimed at expressing discontent over the government's failure to address the worsening economic situation in the country. The protest began at noon and erupted into violence at about 1:30 p.m.
Preliminary reports indicate that one officer has been hospitalized and three protesters have been detained. Police have reportedly been forced to use violence to subdue some of the protesters.
Protesters who were initially pushed away from the parliament reportedly returned to attempt to storm the building again, but were again rebuffed by police.
Police have now largely subdued the protesters and put an end to the violence.
Though the protest began as a peaceful demonstration, a group of protesters soon began throwing snowballs, rocks and glass bottles and attempting to break into the parliament building. Approximately 300 police were in attendance.
Officers have deployed tear gas and shot rubber bullets to help keep the protesters at bay.
The violent protest came just days after a similar protest in Riga turned into a riot, injuring numerous people and causing thousands of euros in damages.
Posted
by Joao Rei
No EU money for Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel
According to a recent article on the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat , there won't be any EU money for the feasibility study that both Helsinki and Tallinn applied to for the underground tunnel between the two capitals.The mayors of both cities are now considering continuing with the studies using their own money from the local government's budget.
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by Joao Rei
Aftermath of the riots in Riga
News of the riots in Riga reached the international media early this morning.
The BBC has footage of the events on its website:
Apparently the same as available on the Delfi TV website:
And more photos of the events: http://www.tvnet.lv/zinas/galleries/gallery.php?gid=577340
According to the BBC, yesterday's riots are the largest the Baltic country has seen since regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Around 126 people (mostly youngsters) were arrested following last night's events.
Now, what is rather puzzling is that the police seemed baffled and surprised at the rioting and looting that took place after the peaceful protests. Even though there had been reports of websites calling for violent action well before January 13th. Giving more than enough time for the police to prepare for last night's events. It is pretty obvious for anyone that if you gather 10.000 or more people in a mass demonstration against the government, some of them are going to end up drinking more than they should and spread a bit of havoc and damage. And that was exactly what happened last night. Around 300 people went in front of the parliament and started shouting for the dismissal of the government and parliament. There seemed to be only around 10-20 police officers initially to protect the parliament, and things got ugly quickly.
Now (and according to a comment on this website) the prime-minister has called on a ban on all protest actions. Not a very clever move. Is there no capable leadership in this sinking boat? Was there no foresight into what could've happen yesterday?
I'll try to follow these events closely.
Posted
by Joao Rei
Joao Rei
