COVID-19 Pandemic: Lithuania Airport Turned into Movie Theater for Cars

A cargo airplane took off from Vilnius airport on Thursday, whereas only a few hundred meters away individuals watched a film from their automobiles at a makeshift drive-in cinema on the airport tarmac.

Occupants of some 160 autos had been below strict instruction to maintain their home windows shut to stop any unfold of the novel coronavirus – however had been delighted at an opportunity to observe Oscar-winning South Korean movie Parasite on the cinema’s opening night time.

Some 3.eight million individuals flew by way of Vilnius airport final 12 months, however all scheduled passenger flights ceased a month in the past, as Lithuania went into lockdown to battle the virus.

Restaurants, live performance halls and cinemas stay closed and Lithuanians are inspired to remain at residence. If they do exit they have to put on a masks and can’t be in a bunch bigger than two, if mixing with non-family members.

The authorities, nonetheless, this week allowed open-air cafes to reopen and a few occasions, such because the drive-in cinema, to go forward because the an infection fee slowed.

“Screening films at the airport was always my dream, but we’ve only got the opportunity now. The tarmac is too busy during normal operations”, mentioned Algirdas Ramaska, who organised the cinema which runs for 4 weeks.

“The response was amazing, we are sold out for the next couple of days. People are very tired after staying at home for so long and they want to get out”.

The annual worldwide movie competition in Vilnius, resulting from happen in March, was cancelled because of the lockdown, and Ramaska says he hopes to maintain the competition workforce employed by exhibiting motion pictures bought for the occasion.

“It’s really an amazing experience, watching a movie here – I have never been inside the airport in my car, only in a plane”, Egle Ribaciauskaite, 34, mentioned.

At the screening, individuals had been advised to remain of their automobiles always and to drive exterior of the airport if a bathroom break was wanted.

Part of the airport needed to be re-designated for the occasion, as any driving on the airport tarmac often requires a particular driver’s license, mentioned Dainius Ciuplys, head of the airport.

Routes for shifting plane have been redrawn on the cramped airport, to keep away from jet blasts inside the drive-in cinema space, and spare radiofrequency is used to beam the movie’s sound into the autos.