newstodate.aero
Mar 23, 2015 (newstodate): Little is heard about visions for a pan-Baltic airline these days - but one voice still propagates the concept.
As the only Baltic state to officially lend its support to the concept of a pan-Baltic carrier, Lithuania still maintains that the future will see the small aviation markets of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania merging in order to secure the long-term connectivity in the region.
-It will take time, but I personally envisage a future when Estonian Air, airBaltic and our Lithuanian carrier will move under one roof, says Arijandas Sliupas, Lithuania's vice-minister of transport & communications.
-For the time being, airBaltic is too big and overly focused on its balance sheet to take any major risk, and Estonian Air and Air Lituanica are too small to press the issue. But given the limited size of the three individual markets I definitely see the future in this region taking the path towards a merger of the three companies into one unified pan-Baltic airline. It will be a matter of time.
The issue has been a topic for years, and in 2009 the transport ministers of the three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania even agreed to set up an expert working group to study the prospect for a joint pan-Baltic airline.
airBaltic's former CEO, Bertholt Flick, early declared his positive approach to the pan-Baltic vision given the position of Riga as the prime hub in the region, and in 2010, Estonian air's former CEO Andrus Aljas also found it "an interesting proposal, and in itself no bad idea as it takes as its basis the entire Baltic market that would provide a considerable critical mass."
Since then, no concrete steps have, however, been taken to bring the issue further.
As the only Baltic state to officially lend its support to the concept of a pan-Baltic carrier, Lithuania still maintains that the future will see the small aviation markets of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania merging in order to secure the long-term connectivity in the region.
-It will take time, but I personally envisage a future when Estonian Air, airBaltic and our Lithuanian carrier will move under one roof, says Arijandas Sliupas, Lithuania's vice-minister of transport & communications.
-For the time being, airBaltic is too big and overly focused on its balance sheet to take any major risk, and Estonian Air and Air Lituanica are too small to press the issue. But given the limited size of the three individual markets I definitely see the future in this region taking the path towards a merger of the three companies into one unified pan-Baltic airline. It will be a matter of time.
The issue has been a topic for years, and in 2009 the transport ministers of the three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania even agreed to set up an expert working group to study the prospect for a joint pan-Baltic airline.
airBaltic's former CEO, Bertholt Flick, early declared his positive approach to the pan-Baltic vision given the position of Riga as the prime hub in the region, and in 2010, Estonian air's former CEO Andrus Aljas also found it "an interesting proposal, and in itself no bad idea as it takes as its basis the entire Baltic market that would provide a considerable critical mass."
Since then, no concrete steps have, however, been taken to bring the issue further.