 Latvian airline airBaltic was announced Airline of the Year 2009/2010 Gold Award winner on October 8 by European Regions Airline Association (ERA). The award was announced at the 2009 General Assembly of ERA in Interlaken, Switzerland.
Bertolt Flick, President and CEO of airBaltic: “We are very pleased that airBaltic is recognized Airline of the Year by the regional airline business community and media. airBaltic will continue its path of development and growth despite the challenging and complex market conditions.” The ERA panel of experts named the below reasons for choosing airBaltic as the Airline of the Year: - airBaltic has made an immensely worthy attempt at developing a new business model in an effort to transform itself from a point to point low cost operator into a network carrier. Has managed to build Riga into an important and highly efficient international hub,
- airBaltic has enjoyed significant traffic growth despite the severe economic situation in the Baltic states and the limits of their home market,
- airBaltic displays high operational and customer service standards.
The ERA Airline of the Year Award was introduced in 1991 and has since grown to become the most widely recognised industry award in this sector. The ERA Airline of the Year Award recognizes success and achievement made by a member regional airline, considering the context and specifics of individual airline’s operating conditions. One of the major assets of the ERA Airline of the Year Award is the quality, independence and fairness of its judging procedure. The judging panel comprises a mix of industry's senior experts together with respected air transport journalists from all over Europe. Panellists are carefully selected for their knowledge and ability to assess achievements against the specific circumstances and constraints under which individual airlines operate. ERA, is the principal body representing the interests of the intra-European air transport industry in Europe. It is an association of over 200 companies, representing the entire industry, including 60 airlines, 25 airports and over 100 associate and affiliate members comprising aircraft & engine manufacturers, international & regional airports and avionic suppliers & service providers. ERA’s Airline members are operating to over 390 European cities in 55 countries with 1,100 aircraft, and carry over 70 million passengers annually. Airline of the Year has been previously awarded to airlines such as Aegean Airlines, Eurowings, Tyrolean Airways. | 
