Demise of Estonian Air brings bookings boom for airBaltic

Take note – story published 9 years ago

It may be unfortunate for our northern neighbors in Estonia to lose their national airline Estonian air, but it has resulted in a huge bookings boom for Latvian national carrier airBaltic, the company revealed Wednesday.

"In the past four days the number of airBaltic tickets sold has tripled in Estonia as the local carrier exited the market. airBaltic will continue to offer more flights and do its best to assist its Estonian customers, affected by the suspension of operations of the local airline," a statement from airBaltic said.

Christophe Viatte, Chief Commercial Officer of airBaltic said: “airBaltic clearly has the lowest costs compared to the solution Estonians are currently using.  We are thankful to our Estonian customers who are choosing airBaltic as their carrier. We are very happy to see that our ticket sales have almost tripled in the past four days compared to the same period a year ago. We will strengthen our service in Estonia by connecting the country increasingly as a part of our Horizon 2021 business plan, supported by our new investor.”

Earlier this summer airBaltic announced a new business plan Horizon 2021 that focuses on improving connectivity within the Baltic region.

Under the terms of the plan, airBaltic aims to operate 11 direct routes out of Tallinn and Vilnius, and over 60 direct routes out of Riga in the next five years.

Estonian Air declared itself bankrupt on November 7 after the European Commission ruled it would have to pay back around €90 million pumped into it as state aid.

Meanwhile airBaltic's search for a new strategic investor continues with Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma saying Wednesday she had discussed the matter with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

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