airBaltic increases passenger traffic between Baku, Riga
By Rashid Shirinov
This summer the Latvian national airline airBaltic carried 5,830 passengers between Baku and Riga, which is an increase of 12 percent compared to the summer of last year, the airline told Azernews.
Because of this, airBaltic made a decision to extend the operational season between Riga and Baku next year from May 2 to October 25.
"It means an increase in the number of flights between Baku and Riga by 89 percent. All flights are planned to be operated with the state-of-the-art Bombardier CS300 aircraft,” the company said.
The airBaltic operated regular flights between Baku and Riga since 2006. At the end of October, the airline joined the BSP (Billing and Settlement Plan) Azerbaijan, in that way increasing the opportunities for all authorized agents in the local market to work with airBaltic.
The company noted it is always evaluating opening new destinations with enough demand. At this point, however, there are no specific plans on launching new destinations between other cities of Azerbaijan and Riga.
Founded in 1995, airBaltic today connects the Baltic region with 60 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS. Its primary shareholder is the Latvian state, which holds 80.05 percent of the company’s shares.
The fleet of airBaltic includes 30 aircraft – seven Bombardier CS300, 11 Boeing 737 and 12 Bombardier Q400Next Gen. In 2012, the airline was ranked by Airlinetrends among the Top 10 airlines globally for innovations. In 2014 and 2015 OAG air travel intelligence company awarded AirBaltic for being the most punctual airline in the world.
The airBaltic-planned increase in the number of flights between Riga in Baku is logical as many tourists have visited Azerbaijan, especially its capital Baku, during past years and their number continues to increase annually. As a result, today Baku is among the most visited cities of the CIS. Over the past year, Azerbaijan received over 2 million tourists. In general, for the past 10 years, the number of tourists visiting the country increased by five times.
People in Azerbaijan are well known for their hospitality, while the country’s nature with its climate, beauty and uniqueness mesmerizes even the most claimant tourists. The country with rich ancient history has thousands of places to visit, ranging from the capital to the unique villages lost in the clouds.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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