"After a decision from the government of Latvia to enable international passenger traffic between [the] Baltic states and receiving all of the necessary permissions, on May 18 airBaltic will resume daily direct flights from Rīga to Tallinn and Vilnius," the company said in a release.
CEO Martin Gauss said: “We provide the best connectivity to and from the Baltics. Now we return with a clear target to maintain our position in the region. By focusing on an all-Airbus A220-300 fleet, we are well positioned for the restart.”
Great news for passengers traveling between the Baltic countries! Starting of May 18, @airBaltic will resume daily direct flights from Riga to Tallinn and Vilnius. Read more: https://t.co/w7TVi7QPuJ pic.twitter.com/Twf8vrRGdB
— airBaltic (@airBaltic) May 14, 2020
“The safety and health of our passengers, our employees and the society stand above all. When we will resume flights, all passengers will be provided with a face mask and disinfectant wipes. Our new flight operations will follow the recommendations issued by authorities. We are still continuing our work on specific guidelines for various other safety activities,” Gauss said.
A full schedule and tickets for the flights will be available "soon" on the airBaltic website, the company said. In addition, a temporary offer for all new airBaltic reservations made by May 31, 2020 is available, offering passengers the chance to rebook free of charge to a new date. Only one date change is permitted.
Later in the day the airline also said that after approval from the Latvian Ministry of Transport, between May 18 and June 9 it will perform daily direct flights from Rīga to Oslo and Frankfurt.
As previously reported by LSM, the Latvian government has pledged considerable financial support to keep the airline flying, and in return Gauss has promised that the crucial role the airline plays in the regional economy will repay the investment many times over.
