AirBaltic

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airBaltic
IATA
BT		 ICAO
BTI		 Callsign
AIRBALTIC
Founded 1995
Hubs Riga International Airport
Focus cities / secondary hubs Vilnius International Airport
Frequent flyer program EuroBonus
Fleet size 16
Destinations 39
Parent company SAS AB
Headquarters Riga, Latvia
Key people Bertolt Flick (CEO airBaltic), Gunnar Reitan (acting CEO of SAS Group)
Website: http://www.airbaltic.com
The correct title of this article is airBaltic. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

airBaltic is the Latvian national airline, based in the capital of Latvia, Rīga. Its main base is Riga International Airport (RIX), with a secondary hub in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Contents

[edit] History

The airline was established on 28 August 1995 with the signing of a joint venture between Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and the Latvian state. Operations started on 1 October 1995 with the arrival of the first Air Baltic aircraft, a Saab 340, at Riga, and that afternoon, the plane was making the first passenger flight for Air Baltic.

In 1996, the airline's first AVRO RJ70 was delivered; and Air Baltic joined SAS frequent flier club as a partner. 1997 saw the opening of a cargo department, and in 1998, the airline's first Fokker 50 plane was delivered. The adopted livery was mainly white, with Air Baltic in blue on the forward fuselage, the 'B' logo being heavily stylised in blue checks. The blue checked pattern was repeated on the aircraft tailfin.

In 1999, Air Baltic became a joint stock company, and all their Saab 340s were replaced by Fokker 50s. By September, the airline had began operating under the European Aviation Operating Standards, or JAR ops. Air Baltic welcomed the new millennium by introducing new uniforms and opening a cargo center at Riga's airport.

The first Boeing 737 joined the fleet in 2003, and on June 1, 2004, Air Baltic launched services from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, initially to five destinations. In October 2004, Air Baltic rebranded as airBaltic, adopting a new corporate livery in the process.

As of May 2006, airBaltic flies from Riga to 30 cities around Europe, Asia and connects Vilnius with 14 European destinations. Their present livery consists of an all white fuselage and lime tailfin. airBaltic.com is displayed on the forward upper fuselage, and simply Baltic is repeated in white on the lower part of the tailfin.

airBaltic has strong links with SAS Scandinavian which owns 47.2% of the airline (the Latvian state holds the remainder). It operates frequent flights to SAS hubs in Copenhagen and Stockholm. The airline boasts "Well connected with SAS" status and the airline's frequent flyer programme is SAS' EuroBonus scheme. Other products and services shared with SAS include co-ordinated timetabling and shared airport lounges.

Unlike its affiliated carrier, SAS, airBaltic is not a member of the Star Alliance or any other airline grouping, though this may change in the future if SAS successfully sponsors the carrier as a regional member. At the moment, however, codeshare agreements are in place with Spanair and Blue1, as well as a partnering agreement with Russian carrier Pulkovo, Aeroflot and Austrian, Atlasjet, Belavia, DonbassAero, Estonian Air, Azerbaijan Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, Aerosvit Airlines, Georgian Airways.

airBaltic carried 1,037,925 passengers in 2005 and achieved an operating profit of €1.2m on a turnover of €73.4m(2004)

During the first six months of 2006, airBaltic transported a total of 634,701 passengers, or 44% more than during the same period in 2005, when the total number of passengers was 439,604.

Turnover for the first six months of 2006 reached 50.85 million lats (72.36 million euro), an increase of 33% compared with H1 2005. Operational result (EBITDAR) reached 5.87 million lats (8.35 million EUR), 74% more than last year (3.38 MLVL/4.81 MEUR). The airline’s combined financial result for the first half of 2006 was a profit of 984,000 lats (1.4 MEUR), which is 4 million lats (5.9 MEUR) more than last year (loss of 3.17 MLVL/ 4.51MEUR).

The airline’s final financial result for the first nine months of 2006 is a profit of 3.356 million lats (4.775 million euro), or 5.1 million lats (7.25MEUR) more than the same period last year (-1.8 MLVL; - 2.56MEUR). Over the same period the airline carried 1.07 million passengers, 41% more than in the same period last year. Latvian airline airBaltic’s turnover in the first nine months of 2006 reached 85.8 million lats (122.1 MEUR), an increase of 38% compared with the first nine months of 2005. The operating result (EBITDAR) for the first nine months of 2006 reached 12.4 million lats (17.6 MEUR), an increase of 68% over the same period in 2005.

[edit] Inflight magazine

airBaltic's inflight magazine, Baltic Outlook, is published six times per year by SIA Rīgas laiks, and can be found in the seatback pockets of every seat. Passengers can take the magazine with them when they disembark their flights. There are only English articles in the magazine. The first edition of Baltic Outlook magazine was published in 2003. There are also a selection of domestic and international newspapers on all flights in business class, except for flights in Baltics.

[edit] airBaltic destinations

airBaltic operates 36 direct flights from Riga and 12 from Vilnius, as well as a non-stop flight between Kaliningrad and Copenhagen.

[edit] Africa

[edit] Asia

[edit] Europe

[edit] Fleet

Boeing 737-500
Enlarge
Boeing 737-500
Fokker F-50
Enlarge
Fokker F-50

The airBaltic fleet includes the following aircraft (as of August 2006) [1] :

Type Number Seats Notes
Boeing 737-500 7 120
Fokker 50 9 46-52

Fleet history:

[edit] Partners

Image:Saspartner.gif

Others

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
SAS Group, SAS AB
Scandinavian Airlines Business Scandinavian Airlines Danmark | Scandinavian Airlines Sverige | SAS Business Opportunities | SAS Braathens
Subsidiaries airBaltic | Blue1 | Spanair | Widerøe
Affiliated Air Greenland | Aerolineas de Baleares | bmi | Estonian Air | Skyways Express
Destinations SAS Group destinations | Scandinavian Airlines destinations | SAS Braathens destinations | Spanair destinations | Widerøe destinations
Airline Support Business SAS Cargo Group | SAS Media | SAS Flight Academy | SAS Technical Services | SAS Ground Services
Alliances Star Alliance | WOW Alliance
History DDL (1946) | DNL (1946) | SILA (1946) | ABA (1948) | Linjeflyg (1992) | Braathens (2001)
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