Air Baltic reports over 13,000 new bookings as flights resume
by Mark CaswellAir Baltic says it has seen a 500 per cent growth in passenger bookings over the last two weeks, with over 13,000 new reservations.
Last week the carrier resumed selected flights between the three Baltic capitals of Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, and this has now been expanded with service from Riga to Amsterdam, Helsinki and Munich resuming today (May 25).
Flights between Vilnius and Oslo will launch on May 28, followed by service from Riga to Berlin and Hamburg on June 1, Tallinn to Paris (also June 1), Tallinn to Vienna (June 2), Tallinn to Berlin (June 4), Riga to Vienna (June 8) and Riga to Dusseldorf (June 9).
Air Baltic is accelerating the retirement of its B737-300 and Bombardier Q400 aircraft, focusing on its fleet of newer A220-300s. The airline was the launch customer for the A220-300 (formerly known as the CS300) in 2016.
Commenting on the news Martin Gauss, CEO of Air Baltic, said:
“During the last two months, while flying was not possible, we had very few new bookings. We already expected that it would change once we are able to fly again. Although we have a positive momentum, it still is only a fraction of bookings Air Baltic had before the crisis.”
“It is our main aim to connect Baltics to the world, and we are glad to resume flights to major European business hubs. We are here to continue providing the best connectivity to and from the Baltic region under the adjusted Destination 2025 CLEAN business plan.