Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
The objective of the statistical data on aircraft, passengers and freight at the airport is to provide the information on the flows of aircraft, passengers and freight and mail at the airports. Statistical information on passenger arrivals and departures by type of carriage, by country; freight and mail carried by type of carriage, by country, aircraft movements is prepared on country level.
3.2. Classification system
Airports are classified according to ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) airport coded as listed in ICAO document 7910.
Aircrafts are classified according to aggregated aircraft categories based on the ICAO aircraft codes as listed in ICAO document 8643.
Airlines are classified according to the ICAO airline codes as listed in the ICAO document 8585. When providing the data to Eurostat, the region where they are licensed is coded accordingly either as European Union (EU) or outside the European Union (non-EU).
International airports whose economic activity code according to the NACE Rev. 2 in Section H is 52.23
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The main concepts used in this domain are the following:
Arriving passengers are those passengers whose air journey terminates at the reporting airport, or those passengers who will continue their air journey (direct transit passengers excluded).
Departing passengers are those passengers whose air journey begins at the reporting airport and ends at a local or foreign airport, or those passengers to whom the reporting airport is a transit one and they continue their air journey (direct transit passengers are excluded).
Direct transit passengers are passengers who continue their journey on a flight having the same number as the flight on which they arrived. Passengers in direct transit are counted only once.
Freight and mail loaded and unloaded means all the freight and mail loaded and unloaded from the aircraft including express and diplomatic postal items, but excluding passenger baggage and direct transit freight and mail.
Flight means the operation of an aircraft for one or several flight stages when the flight number does not change.
3.5. Statistical unit
A civil aviation aircraft; all the aircraft landing and taking off at the airports of the country are taken into account.
3.6. Statistical population
The research population consists of international airports with a type of economic activity code according to EVRK Rev. 2, section H, paragraph 52.23.
International airports are defined by the Regulation (EC) N°1358/2003:
Category "0": Airports with less than 15 000 passenger units per year are considered as having only "occasional commercial traffic" without obligation to report.
Category "1": Airports with between 15 000 and 150 000 passenger units per year shall transmit only aggregated airport data (Data set C).
Category "2": Airports with more than 150 000 passenger units and less than 1 500 000 passenger units per year shall transmit flight stage data, on flight origin destination data as well as aggregated airport data (Data sets A, B and C).
Category "3": Airports with at least 1 500 000 passenger units per year shall transmit flight stage data, on flight origin destination data as well as aggregated airport data (Data sets A, B and C).
3.7. Reference area
The whole economic territory of the country.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data has been reported starting from 2003 for flight stage and on flight origin destination data (annual data only) and from 2001 for airport data (annual data). In 2003 and 2004, Lithuanian data refer to Vilnius Intl. airport only. From 2005 onwards, data for Kaunas and Palanga airports have been added.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Passengers - units, freight and mail loaded and unloaded - tonne, aircraft landing and take-offs - units.
Reference period is the calandar year 2024.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1358/2003 of 31 July 2003 implementing Regulation (EC) No 437/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air and amending Annexes I and II thereto (OJ 2003 Special Edition, Chapter 7, Volume 7, p. 355) as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 158/2007 of 16 February 2007 (OJ 2007 L 49, p. 9);
Regulation (EC) No 437/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 February 2003 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air.
In the process of statistical data collection, processing and analysis and dissemination of statistical information, the State Data Agency fully guarantees confidentiality of the data submitted by respondents (households, enterprises, institutions, organisations and other statistical units), as defined in the Confidentiality policy guidelines of the State Data Agency.
European level:
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
The data provided to Eurostat in the data sets A1, B1 and C1 contain no confidential information.
The State Data Governance Information System Data Security Regulations and Rules for the Secure Management of Electronic Information in the State Data Governance Information System, approved by Order No DĮ-163 of 20 August 2024 of the Director General of the State Data Agency.
8.1. Release calendar
Statistical information is published on the Official Statistics Portal according to the Official Statistics Calendar.
The statistical information of the State Data Agency is prepared and disseminated in accordance with the principles of impartiality and objectivity, i.e. systematically, reliably and impartially, in accordance with professional and ethical standards (European Statistics Code of Practice) and in accordance with transparent policies and practices towards users and respondents.
All users have equal rights to receive statistical information. All statistical information is published simultaneously – at 9 a.m. on the day of publication of statistical information, specified in the Official Statistics Portal calendar. The relevant statistical information is sent automatically to news subscribers.
The right to receive statistical information in advance is granted to the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, their advisors, the Ministers of Finance, Economy and Innovation, and Social Security and Labour or their authorised persons, as well as, in exceptional cases, external experts and scientists. The specified persons have the right to receive statistical reports on GDP, inflation, employment and unemployment of the population and other particularly relevant statistical reports one day before the publication of this statistical information on the Official Statistics Portal. Before exercising the right to receive statistical information in advance, the person signs an undertaking not to disseminate the received statistical information before it is officially published.
Statistical information is published in accordance with the Guidelines for the Dissemination Policy of Official Statistics and the Rules for the Dissemination and Communication of Statistics of the State Data Agency, approved by Order No. DĮ-208 of the Director General of the State Data Agency of 8 October 2024.
Monthy, Quarterly, Annual.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
News releases are not prepared.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Statistical information is not published in publications.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Statistical information is published in the Indicators Database (Transport and Communications -> Air Transport Indicators -> Airport Indicators).
The Indicators Database page is intended for viewing and analyzing statistical information. More information about the Indicators Database is provided in the Indicators Database User Guide.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Statistics Lithuania may, on the basis of agreements concluded with higher education institutions or research institutes, provide statistical data to researchers of these higher education institutions and research institutes for specific statistical analyses for scientific purposes. Statistical data are provided in accordance with the provisions specified in the Description of the Procedure for Data Anonymization and Pseudonymization. More information is available on the Official Statistics Portal, in the section " Data Provision ".
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Statistical information is published in the Eurostat database, to international organizations, published on social networks, and in video messages .
Statistical information can also be provided based on individual requests (more information on the Official Statistics Portal, in the " Services " section).
In 2007, a quality management system, conforming to the requirements of the international quality management system standard ISO 9001, was introduced at the State Data Agency. Main trends in activity of the State Data Agency aimed at quality management and continuous development in the institution are established in the Quality Policy.
Monitoring of the quality indicators of statistical processes and their results and self-evaluation of statistical survey managers is regularly carried out in order to identify areas which need improvement and to promptly eliminate shortcomings.
More information on assurance of quality of statistical information and its preparation is published in the Quality Management section on the State Data Agency website.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The quality of statistical results meets the requirements of accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, comparability and compatibility.
The results of the quality indicators of the air transport statistical surveys monitored in accordance with the annually updated plan for measuring the quality indicators of the State Data Agency's activities are presented in fields 13–15 of this meta-information description. In 2017, a self-assessment of the head of air transport statistical surveys was carried out. It showed that the results of the survey meet the requirements for the quality of statistical information. In 2017, a review of the TOU-01 statistical form on aircraft, passenger and cargo flows at airports was carried out, and the recommendations received were implemented. When assessing statistical indicators, the quality of the information received is analyzed. The calculation results are compared with the results of the previous period and the previous year. Outstanding values of the indicators are identified and their analysis is performed. In the event of significant deviations, the data provider is contacted and the reasons for the deviation are explained.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The main users of statistical information are State and municipal authorities and agencies, international organisations, the media, research and business communities, students, whose needs are satisfied without a breach of the confidentiality principle. Statistical information is used in forecasting and analyzing economic development.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Statistics Lithuania attaches great importance to strengthening relations with users. Users are given the opportunity to test questionnaires, submit their suggestions and requests via email and online, and regular meetings and training sessions with users are organized.
12.3. Completeness
All air transport indicators are published at the national level. The content and detail of the indicators meet EU requirements.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The survey is exhaustive. Estimation of the values of the missing indicators has no significant effect on the overall accuracy.
13.2. Sampling error
No sample is selected for the purpose of compiling air transport statistics.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Errors not related to the sample are not counted.
14.1. Timeliness
Monthly statistical information is published on the 21st day after the end of the reference month, quarterly – on the 52nd calendar day after the end of the reference quarter, annual – in the 5th month after the end of reference year.
All the statistics required are transmitted to Eurostat 1 months after the reference quarter.
14.2. Punctuality
Statistical information is published in accordance with an Official Statistics Calendar. In case of delay, users are notified in advance by indicating the reason and a new date of publication.
Statistical information released on time - 100 per cent.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Statistical information is comparable between EU countries.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Full comparability over time is ensured.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Statistical information on aircraft, passenger and cargo flows at airports is not harmonized between different statistical areas.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Monthly, quarterly and annual statistics are internally coherent.
In 2024, the scope of the survey consisted of 4 economic entities.
The administrative data is used. In this case, there is no statistical reporting burden for respondents.
The results published are final and not revised later. Exception – after the detection of significant errors.
18.1. Source data
Statistical data sources are the airports of Vilnius, Kaunas, Palanga and Šiauliai.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Monthly.
18.3. Data collection
Airports submit monthly statistical data on aircraft, passenger and cargo flows in *.xlsx format to the State Data Agency in accordance with the Statistical Report on Aircraft, Passenger and Cargo Flows at the Airport (TOU-01), approved by Order No. DĮ-305 of the Director General of Statistics Lithuania of 30 November 2021. The statistical report form is regularly reviewed and, if necessary, improved (last tested in 2017). The statistical report form is published at the following website.
18.4. Data validation
The requirements for statistical data control are provided in the technical task of the research programming work. Statistical data control is performed by uploading them to the statistical database. The format of the received statistical data is checked, whether all codes are correct, and missing values are searched for. Uncorrected errors or missing values are discussed with the respondents. To ensure the quality of statistical data, an additional check of the primary database is performed. The completeness and reliability of the entered statistical data are checked, and the relationships between indicators are analyzed.
18.5. Data compilation
The summation method is used to calculate statistical indicators. Monthly, quarterly and annual summary information is produced.
Impact of the season and number of working days on the statistical indicators of air transport is not assessed.
Not applicable.
The objective of the statistical data on aircraft, passengers and freight at the airport is to provide the information on the flows of aircraft, passengers and freight and mail at the airports. Statistical information on passenger arrivals and departures by type of carriage, by country; freight and mail carried by type of carriage, by country, aircraft movements is prepared on country level.
20 March 2026
The main concepts used in this domain are the following:
Arriving passengers are those passengers whose air journey terminates at the reporting airport, or those passengers who will continue their air journey (direct transit passengers excluded).
Departing passengers are those passengers whose air journey begins at the reporting airport and ends at a local or foreign airport, or those passengers to whom the reporting airport is a transit one and they continue their air journey (direct transit passengers are excluded).
Direct transit passengers are passengers who continue their journey on a flight having the same number as the flight on which they arrived. Passengers in direct transit are counted only once.
Freight and mail loaded and unloaded means all the freight and mail loaded and unloaded from the aircraft including express and diplomatic postal items, but excluding passenger baggage and direct transit freight and mail.
Flight means the operation of an aircraft for one or several flight stages when the flight number does not change.
A civil aviation aircraft; all the aircraft landing and taking off at the airports of the country are taken into account.
The research population consists of international airports with a type of economic activity code according to EVRK Rev. 2, section H, paragraph 52.23.
International airports are defined by the Regulation (EC) N°1358/2003:
Category "0": Airports with less than 15 000 passenger units per year are considered as having only "occasional commercial traffic" without obligation to report.
Category "1": Airports with between 15 000 and 150 000 passenger units per year shall transmit only aggregated airport data (Data set C).
Category "2": Airports with more than 150 000 passenger units and less than 1 500 000 passenger units per year shall transmit flight stage data, on flight origin destination data as well as aggregated airport data (Data sets A, B and C).
Category "3": Airports with at least 1 500 000 passenger units per year shall transmit flight stage data, on flight origin destination data as well as aggregated airport data (Data sets A, B and C).
The whole economic territory of the country.
Reference period is the calandar year 2024.
The survey is exhaustive. Estimation of the values of the missing indicators has no significant effect on the overall accuracy.
Passengers - units, freight and mail loaded and unloaded - tonne, aircraft landing and take-offs - units.
The summation method is used to calculate statistical indicators. Monthly, quarterly and annual summary information is produced.
Statistical data sources are the airports of Vilnius, Kaunas, Palanga and Šiauliai.
Monthy, Quarterly, Annual.
Monthly statistical information is published on the 21st day after the end of the reference month, quarterly – on the 52nd calendar day after the end of the reference quarter, annual – in the 5th month after the end of reference year.
All the statistics required are transmitted to Eurostat 1 months after the reference quarter.
Statistical information is comparable between EU countries.
