airBaltic

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airBaltic
IATA
BT		 ICAO
BTI		 Callsign
AIRBALTIC
Founded 1995
Hubs Riga International Airport
Focus cities Vilnius International Airport
Frequent flyer program EuroBonus
Fleet size 26 (+10 orders)
Destinations 49
Parent company Government of Latvia
Headquarters Riga, Latvia
Key people Bertolt Flick (CEO airBaltic), Mats Jansson (CEO of SAS Group)
Website: http://www.airbaltic.com

A/S Air Baltic Corporation, operating as airBaltic, is the Latvian national airline, based in the capital of Latvia, Rīga. Its main base is Riga International Airport (RIX), it is also the largest airline at its secondary hub in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Contents

[edit] History

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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 the name of the airline written in blue on the forward fuselage, the 'B' logo being heavily stylized in blue checks. The blue checked pattern was repeated on the aircraft tailfin.

In 1999, Air Baltic became a joint stock company, and all of their Saab 340s were replaced by Fokker 50s. By September, the airline had begun 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 737-500 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. Their present livery consists of an all-white fuselage and lime tailfin. airBaltic.com is displayed on the forward upper fuselage, and the word "Baltic" is repeated in white on the lower part of the tailfin.

In December, 2006, the first Boeing 737-300 joined the fleet, configured with winglets. In June 2007, airBaltic introduced online check-in system. It was the first online check-in system in Baltic states.In spring 2008, in airBaltic fleet appeared two long-haul Boeing 757-200ER. In 10th March 2008, was announced that in three years airline will acquire new aircraft, experiencing the largest fleet expansion in the company’s history. It will be Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft.

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, Oslo 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 many Star Alliance airlines and with many others.

As of September 2007 airBaltic employs 948 people.[1]. Since July 2007 airBaltic have an online check-in system.

[edit] Operational Statistics

Turnover for the first 9 months of 2007 reached 120.2 million lats (171 million EUR), up 40% compared to the same period of 2006. At that time, the airline's operational result (EBITDAR) reached 18.8 million lats (26.7 million EUR), a 51% increase compared to 9/2006. Turnover for 2006 reached 115.9 million lats (164.9 million euro), an increase of 37% compared to 2005. At FYE 2006, operational result (EBITDAR) reached 16.9 million lats (24.0 million EUR), a 65% increase from 2005(9.7 MLVL/13.8 MEUR). The airline’s net profit for 2006 was 4.305 million lats (6.125 million euro) vs. -1.14 million lats (-1,62 million euro) a year before. As of 9/2007 airBaltic's earned 5.1 million lats in pre-tax profit (7.2 million EUR)

In 2007, airBaltic served 2,007,150 passengers, an increase of 41% compared to 2006.

[edit] Destinations

On 5 September 2005 the airline launched its first domestic service between Riga and Liepāja.[1] The second domestic service has began on 11th April 2008 on route Riga - Ventspils [1]

airBaltic operates 48 direct flights from Riga and 22 from Vilnius, as well as a non-stop flight between Kaliningrad and Copenhagen, flights from Liepaja to Hamburg and Copenhagen from 9th June 2007. Flights from Liepaja to Hamburg and Copenhagen served by airBaltic partner - DAT - Danish Air Transport leased aircraft ATR 42-300.

Main article: AirBaltic destinations
Further information: SAS Group destinations

[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 is also a selection of domestic and international newspapers on all flights in business class, except for flights in Baltics.

[edit] Fleet

Boeing 737-300
Boeing 737-300
Boeing 737-500
Boeing 737-500
Fokker F-50
Fokker F-50

The airBaltic fleet includes the following aircraft (as of May 2008):

Air Baltic Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers Notes
Boeing 737-300 6
(2 orders)		 149 New YL-BBJ, YL-BBX, YL-BBY, 2 on order from various ex-operators [2]
Boeing 737-500 10 120-126
Boeing 757-200ER 2 200 YL-BDB, YL-BDC
Fokker 50 8 46-52 to be replaced by Dash 8-400's NextGen.
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 NextGen (8 orders) 76 8 firm orders and 4 options, with the deliveries starting in November 2009. Replacing Fokker 50's. [3]

In April 2008, airBaltic leased three aircraft: DAT - Danish Air Transport ATR 42-320 (OY-JRJ) aircraft for their routes from Liepaja to Riga, Copenhagen and Hamburg; Air Express Sweden Fokker 100 (SE-DUV) and Carpatair Fokker 100 (YR-FKB).

[edit] Retired fleet

Air Baltic Retired Fleet
Aircraft Total Operated Notes
Saab 340 2 1995-1999 YL-BAG, YL-BAP
Avro RJ70 3 1996-2005 YL-BAK, YL-BAL, YL-BAN
Boeing 737-500 1 - YL-BBB was operated from 2003 to 2007
Fokker 50 1 - SE-LJI was operated from 2005 to 2006

[edit] Codeshare Partners

Others

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-03-27, p. 69. 
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SAS Group (SAS AB)
Airlines
Subsidiary airlines
airBaltic · Blue1 · Spanair · Widerøe
Affiliated airlines
Destinations
Airline support
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History
DDL (1946) · DNL (1946) · SILA (1946) · ABA (1948) · Linjeflyg (1993) · Braathens (2001) · SAS Braathens (2007)
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Airlines of Latvia

airBaltic · Concors · Inversija · LatCharter · Transeast Airlines