release management - Is it possible to skip an LTS upgrade?

If you want to upgrade from 10.10 to 12.04, then you'll need to follow the upgrade path; 10.10 > 11.04 > 11.10 > 12.04. However, with LTS versions, you can upgrade directly, so that you can upgrade from 10.04LTS to 12.04LTS directly.

But now, LTS versions are supported for five years while there's still a new LTS every two years. That means you can choose to skip an LTS. So the question is; will I be able to upgrade from 12.04LTS to 16.04LTS directly, or will I then have to follow the LTS upgrade path; 12.04 > 14.04 > 16.04?

I decided to drop Mark Shuttleworth a comment on his blog.

My Question:

Mark – its not clear what the LTS upgrade strategy is beyond 12.04.

i.e. – could a 12.04 business jump to 16.04 directly – i.e. plan to
upgrade in 4 years time?

and Mark's response:

We support LTS-to-LTS upgrades, so yes, you could stay on 12.04 LTS,
then move to 16.04 LTS (in our current testing plan we would test the
migration from 12.04 to 14.04 and then to 16.04, not directly).

Thus, any business on 12.04 LTS staying for 4 to 5 years, their upgrade plan would be first 14.04 LTS and staying with that for the 3-4 years that LTS gives, or to plan a double upgrade - 14.04 and then 16.04.