Star1's aircraft landing at Girona, Spain. Photo courtesy of Star1 Airlines.

VILNIUS — Star1 Airlines CEO Martynas Laivys said that during August the company had more than 80 percent capacity on average for its flights, allowing the airline to expand and buy a second aircraft for next year.

“Everything is going well – the best results was on the route Vilnius to Dublin with 99.2 percent capacity for August. In general we are happy with the results and the capacity is above 80 percent on average,” Laivys told Baltic Reports, adding that in the current situation, they can almost always fill the cabin using last minute fares.

Star1 Airlines is one of three new airlines to start flying to Vilnius following the bankruptcy of flyLAL, the country’s former national air carrier that went bust in January. It has been joined by Swedish company Skyways, which operates regional flights on Fokker 50 aircraft.

Laivys said the good start would allow them to survive the winter and buy a new plane for next summer season. Many have voiced concerns over the company’s tight schedule using only one aircraft.

“Winter will be worse than summer, but as the summer was good, we are prepared for the winter and we won’t buy a new plane for then because it is not a good time to start. We are seriously investigating where to make new routes, but we wont make any that aren’t profitable,” he said.

The company operates both charter flights and regular passenger flights, often operated in parallel to ensure high cabin factor. The company launched operations in June 2009.

Martynas Laivys, CEO of Star1 Airlines, said the company was doing well.

Lithuania has suffered not having a functioning airline this year with business people and tourism experts alike saying that that factor alone has crippled the Vilnius European Capital of Culture 2009 project, which was pegged as a savior for the city during the tough financial year.

Transport ministers from the three countries recently met to discuss the creation of a pan-Baltic airline to help increase accessibility for the three countries.