Owners of land in the vicinity of the airport have lodged a complaint against the detailed plan, as endorsed by the local authority of Kaunas Region, with the Kaunas Administrative Court. They have asked to apply interim safeguard measures but the decision has not yet been taken.
Meanwhile, state-owned company Kauno Aerouostas issued a call for tenders early in July for a new detailed plan, which is expected to be prepared in two or three years.
“The detailed plan remains valid until the court decides otherwise. Therefore, the projects being implemented at the airport are not being suspended. However, we have issued a new tender for a new plan since we have to pursue expansion and businesses also need guarantees,” Arijandas Šliupas, former airport’s CEO, told the daily.
Antanas Etneris, Air Hotel CEO, told the daily that the company did not intend to abandon this project. Moreover, the company has already paid to the airport 180,000 litas in infrastructure fees, 10,000 litas in land charges and spent 40,000 litas on a project study.
Last year, the company leased an 8,500-square-meter land plot at the airport for a 40-year period. Air Hotel intends to build a three-storey three-star hotel at the airport, which should be opened within three years under contractual arrangements.
