newstodate.aero
Feb 12, 2015 (newstodate): In today's environment, keeping the aircraft fleet busy and earning revenues calls for continuous adjustments to the Latvian carrier airBaltic's strategy.
-Earlier, the strategy emphasized transfer traffic with Riga Airport as our hub. This has changed, says Martin Gauss, airBaltic CEO and President.
-Only few years ago, transfer traffic accounted for 50 percent of airBaltic's traffic. Now this proportion is down to 40 percent, with point-to-point traffic increasing correspondingly. And this development may go even further.
-This is not to say that transfer traffic is not meaningful. It can certainly still be, but primarily in cooperation with partners including code-sharing airlines.
-But of course it depends on changing market situations. We have for instance been serving all three airports in Moscow, last adding services to Moscow Domodedovo Airport from October 2010 in a code-share agreement with Transaero, while the other two routes to Moscow Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo are code-shared with Aeroflot.
-As the market for transfer flights between Riga and Moscow has dried up during the current situation, we have closed down the Domodedovo flights and redirected capacity instead to the Baltic region, launching new flights from Tallinn and Vilnius to European destinations.
-These and coming new point-to-point flights are performed in cooperation with our code-share partners Air France and KLM as well as Austrian which allows for competitive rates while also relieving us of part of the risks involved as other carriers are selling into our flights.
-Adding our frequent flights between Riga and our two neighboring markets, the flights from Estonia and Lithuania also add to the air travel options from our Latvian home market, creating a favorable situation for all, says Mr Gauss.
In addition to the renewed focus on Baltic services, the carrier is also growing its charter traffic, including a recently announced intra-German air service as its first route entirely outside the Baltic region.
-Earlier, the strategy emphasized transfer traffic with Riga Airport as our hub. This has changed, says Martin Gauss, airBaltic CEO and President.
-Only few years ago, transfer traffic accounted for 50 percent of airBaltic's traffic. Now this proportion is down to 40 percent, with point-to-point traffic increasing correspondingly. And this development may go even further.
-This is not to say that transfer traffic is not meaningful. It can certainly still be, but primarily in cooperation with partners including code-sharing airlines.
-But of course it depends on changing market situations. We have for instance been serving all three airports in Moscow, last adding services to Moscow Domodedovo Airport from October 2010 in a code-share agreement with Transaero, while the other two routes to Moscow Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo are code-shared with Aeroflot.
-As the market for transfer flights between Riga and Moscow has dried up during the current situation, we have closed down the Domodedovo flights and redirected capacity instead to the Baltic region, launching new flights from Tallinn and Vilnius to European destinations.
-These and coming new point-to-point flights are performed in cooperation with our code-share partners Air France and KLM as well as Austrian which allows for competitive rates while also relieving us of part of the risks involved as other carriers are selling into our flights.
-Adding our frequent flights between Riga and our two neighboring markets, the flights from Estonia and Lithuania also add to the air travel options from our Latvian home market, creating a favorable situation for all, says Mr Gauss.
In addition to the renewed focus on Baltic services, the carrier is also growing its charter traffic, including a recently announced intra-German air service as its first route entirely outside the Baltic region.