A dispute between low-cost airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air and Lithuanian airport authorities over increased charges at Vilnius Airport has reached Lithuania’s highest administrative court.
After a lower court rejected the airlines’ complaints in 2023, the case was appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania, according to the 2024 annual report by Lithuanian Airports (LTOU).
“The applicants (Ryanair and Wizz Air) appealed the court’s decision to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania. Preparations for the hearing have been completed, but a court date has not yet been set,” LTOU stated in the report.
LTOU management said it believes the outcome of the case will likely be in its favour. It added that there is no legal precedent for similar disputes over airport fees in Lithuania, which is why the airport authority decided not to set aside provisions for possible liabilities.
Court spokesperson Silvija Šadžiuvienė confirmed to BNS that the case is non-public and declined to provide further details. She also confirmed that no hearing date has been scheduled.
The case began in March 2023, when the Regional Administrative Court dismissed the airlines’ request to annul orders signed in 2022 by the heads of LTOU and the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration (LTSA). That decision was also made behind closed doors, and the court did not publicly announce the ruling, spokesperson Sigita Gamulėnienė told BNS.
At the time, LTOU said the decision to increase airport charges starting in January 2023 was driven by a sharp rise in operational costs over recent years. The company also noted that fees at Vilnius Airport had not been adjusted since 2018.
In 2023, both airlines argued that the new fee orders issued by the heads of LTOU and LTSA were unfounded. Their request to temporarily suspend the implementation of the new charges and revert to pre-2023 rates was rejected by the court in February 2023.
LTOU has previously noted that Ryanair and Wizz Air frequently challenge airport fees in other countries as well.
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