airBaltic to Launch Manchester - Riga

29.01.2010 06:08 | Latvia

Author: Janis Vanags
Source: A/S Air Baltic Corporation

On March 29, Latvian national airline airBaltic will launch flights between Manchester and Riga for passengers travelling via the Latvian capital to/from Scandinavia, CIS countries, and the Baltic region.

Tero Taskila, Chief Commercial Officer of airBaltic: “After a profitable year in 2009 and with a positive outlook for 2010, airBaltic continues to strengthen its transit product via Riga by offering another destination in the UK. This is already the 7th destination we will open this year from Riga to complement our network of routes serving Western Europe, Scandinavia, CIS and Middle East.”

New flights (from Riga)

Days of operation

Starting date

Price (including taxes, fees and service charges)*

Manchester, UK

1,4,7 (from Riga)

1,2,5 (from Manchester)

March 29

EUR 61/ LVL 43/GBP 58

* The lowest available fare at www.airbaltic.com.

Flights to Manchester will be offered three times weekly – on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays (Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from Manchester to Riga). Passengers will board a Boeing 737 aircraft for a flight that will last for two hours and 55 minutes, with one-way ticket prices starting at LVL 43 (EUR 61), including airport fees and transaction charges.

A full schedule of airBaltic flights can be found on the company’s homepage at www.airbaltic.com.

For 2009 airBaltic has announced 20 million EUR preliminary profit, and achieved 6% passenger growth to 2.75 million passengers. In 2010, airBaltic will open at least nine new direct routes from Riga, and has so far announced new destinations including Madrid, Belgrade, Vaasa, Umea, Beirut, Amman, and Manchester. The number of direct routes from Vilnius, announced by airBaltic over the past month, already total 10 – London, Paris, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Rome, Hamburg, Manchester, Dublin, and Oslo.

airBalticin brief:

AIR BALTIC CORPORATION (airBaltic) is a joint stock company that was established in 1995. The primary shareholders are the Latvian state, with 52.6% of stock, and SIA Baltijas aviācijas sistēmas, with 47.2% of stock. The airBaltic fleet consists of 31 aircraft – ten Boeing 737-500, eight Boeing 737-300, two Boeing 757-200, and eleven Fokker 50 airplanes. airBaltic offers nonstop flights from three Baltic capital cities – Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn. airBaltic received the title of Airline of the Year 2009/2010 (Gold Award) from the European Regions Airline Association. airBaltic is the winner of Air Transport World Phoenix Award 2010 – a global recognition of excellence in restructuring business.