Author: Janis Vanags
Source: A/S Air Baltic Corporation
Latvian national airline airBaltic has been selected as Top 10 innovator story in 2010 among the world’s airlines by Airlinetrends.com - an independent industry and consumer trends research agency. airBaltic earned recognition as a trendsetter because of successfully extending the brand to taxi (BalticTaxi) and bicycle rental services (BalticBike).
Tero Taskila, Chief Commercial Officer of airBaltic: “airBaltic has been always known for low prices for flights to Europe, Middle East, Russia and CIS. We have been focusing on improving the product through innovation and are happy of the recognitions we have received. It is an honour to be nominated in top 10 globally from hundreds of airlines.”
BalticBike, launched in June 2010, is the first self-service bike rental in the Baltics. BalticBike has bicycles for those, who want to see the city leisurely, as well as those, who have to arrange their business activities but prefer fast and environmentally friendly transportation, avoiding traffic jams. BalticBike bicycle fleet includes 100 bicycles. The bikes are located in 11 easy-to-access stands in Riga and Jurmala.
BalticTAXI was created in order to improve the quality of the taxi business in the capital. Taxi drivers in Riga used to charge too much for rides, which was damaging to the image of Riga and Latvia. BalticTAXI was created as a transparent and responsible taxi business to provide an alternative to the city’s residents and visitors. BalticTAXI’s vehicles are staffed by professional uniformed drivers, and for example there is a fixed price for the journey from the airport to any location in Riga.
Other recent innovations of airBaltic include Apple iPads for inflight entertainment (the first airline in Europe), roses offered to passengers while planes are up in the sky (the first airline in the world), organic and locally grown food for business class passengers by Mārtiņš Rītiņš, the most renowned chef in the Baltic region.
Airlinetrends.com is an independent industry and consumer trends research agency. Airlinetrends.com is continuously monitoring the global aviation industry for commercial innovations in response to changing consumer behavior. Read more on Top 10 innovation stories at www.airlinetrends.com/2010/12/23/top-10-most-popular-stories-2010/
airBaltic has previously won the Pacesetter Award from the Jury of the Budgies World Low Cost Airline Awards, recognising achievements of airBaltic as a trendsetting hybrid airline. “airBaltic is a marketing innovator with a continuous stream of revenue-enhancing products and services. The judges believe airBaltic deserves special merit as a pacesetter in the world’s airline industry,” read the statement of the Jury.
airBaltic serves 80 destinations from its home base at Riga, Latvia. From every one of these, airBaltic offers convenient connections via North Hub Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS and the Middle East.
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 33 aircraft – six Boeing 737-500, eight Boeing 737-300, two Boeing 757-200, ten Fokker 50 airplanes and seven Bombardier Q400Next Gen. 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. In summer 2010, airBaltic was chosen for anna.aero ANNIES Award as Europe's largest flag carrier by new routes. airBaltic won a special Pacesetter Award 2010 from the Jury of the Budgies World Low Cost Airline Awards, recognising achievements of airBaltic as a hybrid airline.
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