Over the past few years, we have surveyed the needs of our passengers and have developed our product accordingly. The basic requirements are direct flights to the major destinations at competitive, sometimes very low prices. Thanks to the larger variety of destinations and the lower prices airBaltic is able to offer, many Estonians and Lithuanians have started to fly from Riga. This has led to an extremely strong growth of passengers particularly in Riga, but also from our base in Vilnius.

This growth, positive in nature, has led to some negative effects as well. We see that in Riga, in Vilnius, but actually throughout Europe. It is getting more and more difficult to operate aircraft on time. Punctuality is high on my list of priorities when I travel, and it is very important for airBaltic as a company. It is no consolation that, despite this trend, we are still one of the most punctual airlines in Europe.

Problems start at check-in with long lines, continue with lines at security and on boarding the aircraft. As a next step, aircraft get delayed because of capacity restrictions at airports. There is one airport in our network where none of our aircraft has ever departed on time because of slot restrictions at the airport. Once the aircraft is in the air, the trouble doesn’t stop, because air traffic control often also does not have the resources to deal with over-flying aircraft. A typical example is the airspace over Poland, which is often overcrowded during evening times. A problem which has been known to Polish air traffic control for years.

As an airline, we have no control over this situation, but we try to use our influence wherever we can to improve matters. In order to increase our regularity and our punctuality, we will acquire one reserve aircraft in August. This will allow us to replace aircrafts which arrive with a long delay or which have technical problems.

We have introduced Internet check-in in Riga and will introduce it at other airports step-by-step. Passengers can print their boarding pass at home and avoid the long lines at check-in. Try out this convenient option when you fly next time: it allows you to pre-select your seat and avoid check-in lines. Luggage can be dropped off at a special drop-off point and you can go directly to the security check. This may save you 30 to 40 minutes.

But clearly: if air traffic management is not improved, if airports and handling companies do not work hand in hand with the airlines to make a major effort in streamlining the operations, we will see fewer and fewer aircraft departing on time, because the number of flights is growing, as well as the number of passengers.

I wish you a good flight!

Bertolt Flick
President & CEO