airBaltic will resume service outside of the EU with flights between Riga and Kyiv starting on March 17th. Separately, the carrier has received ‘Europe’s Youngest Aircraft Fleet Award 2021’ from Chur, Switzerland-based ch-aviation.
On Monday (March 15, 2021), airBaltic announced that they will resume flights outside of the European Union on March 17, 2021, with the restart of flights between Riga and Kyiv. Starting on March 28th, the carrier will further resume service between Riga and Tbilisi, Tel Aviv, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Minsk. In today’s announcement, airBaltic’s Chief Executive Officer, Martin Gauss, said,
“Now that flights from Latvia to countries outside the European Union are allowed, we are gradually resuming connections to a few key destinations, to improve the essential connectivity we provide for the Baltic region. For many people, who need to travel for essential reasons, aviation is the safest mode of transportation.”
In a separate press release on Monday, airBaltic announced that they have received the ‘Europe’s Youngest Fleet Award 2021’ from Chur, Switzerland-based aviation information provider ch-aviation. airBaltic has ranked first in Europe and 5th globally with an average aircraft age of only 2.40 years. Speaking on the carrier’s award, Mr. Gauss said,
“We are proud to be recognized as the airline with the most modern aircraft fleet in the Europe. Since May 2020 we operate all of our flights with a single aircraft type – Airbus A220-300, thus minimizing the complexity and benefiting from the additional efficiency provided by the aircraft. We see the Airbus A220-300 as one of our main competitive advantages from which we benefit from today and also in the future. One of our Airbus aircraft can generate around 20 million euros in revenue per year if we can use it efficiently in the future. In the case of airBaltic that could mean a revenue close to 1 billion euros in the year 2025.”
Further commenting on airBaltic’s young fleet, ch-aviation’s Founder, Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Jaeger, added,
“At ch-aviation, we find it very impressive how airBaltic has grown in the last couple of years. Updating its aircraft fleet from Boeing 737 Classics and Dash 8-Q400s to an entirely brand-new Airbus A220-300s is no easy task. Our data also clearly shows the speed at which airBaltic renewed its fleet, which should not go unnoticed. On behalf of ch-aviation, I congratulate airBaltic on its successful fleet rollover.”
Established in 1995, Air Baltic Corporation SA (airBaltic) is a joint stock company with most of the equity (96.14%) held by the Latvian state and the remaining shares held by Lars Thuesen through his holding company Aircraft Leasing 1 SIA. The airline Group also includes Air Baltic Training SIA, Loyalty Services SIA, Baltijas Kravu Centrs SIA and Crew Resources AS. One of the most punctual carriers in the world, the airline connects the Baltic region to over 70 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS with a fleet of 25 Airbus A220-300s.
Source: airBaltic