As passenger flows rapidly recover at Lithuania’s airports, at the same time, extra document checking procedures persist, travellers are being urged to prepare for their journey ahead of time so that they avoid long queues at flight registration and aviation security checkpoints. In addition, passengers are being reminded to arrive at the airport at least two hours before their flight. They have the passenger arrival forms required by specific countries, which must be filled in before arriving at the border.
Lithuanian Airports customer experience head Rasa Petraitienė emphasises that two hours prior to a flight is a minimum timeframe that those planning to travel should have when arriving at the airport – and it is advised to arrive earlier.
“We already see that on certain days, the influx of travellers at terminals reaches half or even more of that seen in the record-breaking year of 2019. However, in order to ensure that you don’t have to wait for a long time in the queue upon arriving at the airport, you should plan your travel preparations responsibly – avoid arriving at the eleventh hour, and fill in forms required by foreign countries,” says Petraitienė.
Study international travel requirements
While the European Union digital COVID-19 pass became accessible across all EU countries on 1st July, member states have the right to impose individual requirements. This means that having a COVID-19 pass doesn’t necessarily ensure guaranteed entry into a country. So it is necessary to study the current requirements for the specific country prior to travel – whether it is open to tourists, whether you have to fill out a traveller’s form, whether self-isolation is required upon arrival, and if so, for how long. You must also consider whether you will be tested for COVID-19 before the trip or, perhaps, on arrival. It is also necessary to note that it is often required to fill in separate passenger forms for accompanying children.
All the necessary information can be obtained from the representatives of airline ticket vendors, official state institutions, as well as the website and app Re-Open EU, which can also be accessed in the Lithuanian language.
Information on the requirements established by a destination country can also be found in a special Lithuanian Airports sub-site.
Meanwhile, information about necessary procedures on returning from abroad can be found at the National Public Health Centre (NVSC) website. It must be noted that that checks for passengers arriving in airports are performed by the NVSC or border guard officers.
About the Lithuanian Airports Network
The Lithuanian Airports network includes three air gates in Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga. In 2020, Lithuanian Airports served 1.8 million passengers and 30 thousand flights.
