newstodate.aero
Sep 21, 2010 (newstodate): Yesterday's announcement by the owners of the Latvian investment company, Baltic Aviation Systems, to launch a new airline in Lithuania from the start of 2011 cast doubts over the future shape of commercial aviation in the Baltic region.
So far the Latvian carrier airBaltic has been aggressively building up a hub-and-spoke structure with Latvia's Riga Airport serving as the Baltic center of international flights.
Besides, the carrier has also been successfully building up systems of direct air services from neighboring countries Estonia and Lithuania to complement the Riga hub services.
Thus, the new carrier, yet unnamed, will offer direct flights from Vilnius to a total of 28 destinations, many of which are today already served by airBaltic from Vilnius, including Munich, Berlin, Paris, Rome, and London, while Amsterdam seems to be the only destination currently served by airBaltic that is not included in the announced plans for the new airline.
The net impression so far when information is still sparse is that the new carrier will compete with airBaltic on many routes, diluting traffic from airBaltic's hub at Riga Airport.
The fact that both airlines share ownership by Baltic Aviation Systems, owned by two persons, the current and the former CEOs of airBaltic, certainly adds to the confusion.
One thing stands out clearly, though: aviation in Lithuania, severely hit by the demise of flyLAL at the beginning of 2009, is in for a strong re-bounce!
So far the Latvian carrier airBaltic has been aggressively building up a hub-and-spoke structure with Latvia's Riga Airport serving as the Baltic center of international flights.
Besides, the carrier has also been successfully building up systems of direct air services from neighboring countries Estonia and Lithuania to complement the Riga hub services.
Thus, the new carrier, yet unnamed, will offer direct flights from Vilnius to a total of 28 destinations, many of which are today already served by airBaltic from Vilnius, including Munich, Berlin, Paris, Rome, and London, while Amsterdam seems to be the only destination currently served by airBaltic that is not included in the announced plans for the new airline.
The net impression so far when information is still sparse is that the new carrier will compete with airBaltic on many routes, diluting traffic from airBaltic's hub at Riga Airport.
The fact that both airlines share ownership by Baltic Aviation Systems, owned by two persons, the current and the former CEOs of airBaltic, certainly adds to the confusion.
One thing stands out clearly, though: aviation in Lithuania, severely hit by the demise of flyLAL at the beginning of 2009, is in for a strong re-bounce!