newstodate.aero
May 27, 2015 (newstodate): The vision of a "Pan-Baltic Airline" has long been circulating in the region, but may come closer to realization after the demise of Air Lituanica.
Talks are now being conducted between representatives of the transport ministries of Lithuania and Latvia, as well as with airBaltic that has stepped in to fill part of the void left in air transport between Vilnius and key European destinations.
With the second failure of a purely Lithuanian flag carrier after the demise of flyLAL in 2009 and Air Lituanica in May 2015, dreams of a fresh attempt in Lithuania have at least cooled off.
-Lithuania made two attempts to create a flagship carrier but wasnt too successful. Those efforts always ended with debts and resale of assets to various interest groups. Unfortunately, that experience wasnt successful. We have missed the right time to enter the international aviation market and nobody has come up with a model which would at least help avoid losses, let alone get some profit. Hence I dont think that the government or the state should be forced into loss-making business for the third time since the costs of that will have to be borne by all Lithuanian people, Lithuania's prime minister said in a media interview.
Earlier attempts at setting up a pan-Baltic carrier have stalled on a number of reasons, including disputes over which country would be allocated the prime hub status, with Riga Airport an obvious, although contested choice given the strength of airBaltic's existing route network and transfer options.
The position of Estonia in the ongoing process is unclear. Estonian Air's future still hinges on the outcome of the EU investigation over alleged illegal state aid, with the long-overdue verdict expected by autumn this year.
In the meantime, the major shareholder of Estonia's passenger shipping company Tallink, Infortar in October 2014 declared its interest in acquiring all shares in the carrier, including the 10 percent stake still held by the airline's former major shareholder SAS, but this deal also hinges on the outcome of the EU verdict.
And after all, it was just a declaration, not an outright purchase order..
Talks are now being conducted between representatives of the transport ministries of Lithuania and Latvia, as well as with airBaltic that has stepped in to fill part of the void left in air transport between Vilnius and key European destinations.
With the second failure of a purely Lithuanian flag carrier after the demise of flyLAL in 2009 and Air Lituanica in May 2015, dreams of a fresh attempt in Lithuania have at least cooled off.
-Lithuania made two attempts to create a flagship carrier but wasnt too successful. Those efforts always ended with debts and resale of assets to various interest groups. Unfortunately, that experience wasnt successful. We have missed the right time to enter the international aviation market and nobody has come up with a model which would at least help avoid losses, let alone get some profit. Hence I dont think that the government or the state should be forced into loss-making business for the third time since the costs of that will have to be borne by all Lithuanian people, Lithuania's prime minister said in a media interview.
Earlier attempts at setting up a pan-Baltic carrier have stalled on a number of reasons, including disputes over which country would be allocated the prime hub status, with Riga Airport an obvious, although contested choice given the strength of airBaltic's existing route network and transfer options.
The position of Estonia in the ongoing process is unclear. Estonian Air's future still hinges on the outcome of the EU investigation over alleged illegal state aid, with the long-overdue verdict expected by autumn this year.
In the meantime, the major shareholder of Estonia's passenger shipping company Tallink, Infortar in October 2014 declared its interest in acquiring all shares in the carrier, including the 10 percent stake still held by the airline's former major shareholder SAS, but this deal also hinges on the outcome of the EU verdict.
And after all, it was just a declaration, not an outright purchase order..