141 ISSN 1648-4142 print / ISSN 1648-3480 online TRANSPORT www.transport.vtu.lt TRANSPORT – 2006, Vol XXI, No 2, 141–147 WORLD TENDENCES OF CIVIL AVIATION DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE LITHUANIAN CIVIL AVIATION Jonas Butkevičius1, Aldona Jarašūnienė2 Department of Transport Management, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Plytinės g. 27, LT-10105 Vilnius, Lithuania. E-mail: 1
[email protected], 2
[email protected] Received 12 December 2005, accepted 28 March 2006 Abstract. The article deals with global trends in civil aviation, such as: liberalisation of aviation market, globalisation of airlines, privatisation of airlines and invasion of low cost airlines into the market. Also the influence of these trends on the Lithuanian civil aviation activities has been defined. The Lithuanian civil aviation activities have been analysed: activities of international airports, passenger and cargo carriers, passenger routes and passenger flows, transportation market and airplane fleet. The problems of the Lithuanian civil aviation activities have been identified and suggestions for the development of the Lithuanian civil aviation activities have been proposed. Keywords: civil aviation, airlines, airplane, airport, terminal, passenger flow, cargo, development, liberalisation, globalisation, and privatisation. 1. Introduction The process of liberalisation of air transport in Europe started during the adjustment of legal acts Civil aviation plays an important role in the devel- regulating this field of activity. The European opment of the world economy. 1,6 milliard of passen- Community’s legal measures, which consequently en- gers are carried by air transport yearly. For 2010 the forced the stages of liberalisation of aviation market, flow of 2,5 milliard of passengers is forecasted in regu- are known as liberalisation packages.