Our new route-mix reflects the seasonal change in demand. For the winter, we will therefore open a number of new destinations, which will cater to clients interested either in winter sports or to those who want to escape a Nordic winter. In cooperation with TEZ TOUR, we will open scheduled flights to Egypt, Hurghada and Sharm el Sheik. A large number of the seats have been allocated to TEZ TOUR and some of the seats will be sold by airBaltic directly, thus giving the passenger more flexibility. The flights to Egypt will continue until April and will be interrupted for the summer. We are still looking for destinations in Northern Africa to which we can fly all year around.

With the beginning of the winter season, we will open a flight to Zurich and adjust our flight schedule to Munich both from Riga and from Vilnius. Those destinations will of course be flown all year around. We will also add another Scandinavian destination to our network and start flights to the second largest city in Sweden, Gothenburg.

However, the winter in the Baltics is not the most pleasant of seasons and tourism will decrease in the winter months. It is therefore important to develop tourism and travel, which is either independent of the season or even takes place during the winter months. This can be conference tourism and cultural tourism. I strongly support the building of new cultural attraction like the new concert hall in Riga or a new museum for modern art. Cultural and event tourism will be playing an ever increasing role. It is good to have an excellent opera house, but definitely not enough. Even from a financial point of view, the building of such institution will pay off through increased tourism in short period of time. The same goes for a major conference-centre; the lack of conference facilities is a major drawback for both Riga and Vilnius.

Enjoy your flight!

Bertolt Flick
President &CEO