newstodate.aero

Nov 16, 2023 (newstodate): The Latvian carrier airBaltic has now finally inked a code-share agreement with the US carrier Delta Air Lines.
   Taking effect from November 22, 2023, Delta is adding its airline code on 20 airBaltic-operated routes to three of the Latvian airline’s bases – Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius.
   Following an audit of Latvia's Civil Aviation Agency, the US Federal Aviation Administration in July 2023 granted Latvia with Cat 1 status, allowing IOSA-certified Latvian airline operators to launch future flights to US destinations as well as cooperating with US carriers.
   Already in 2021, Delta Air Lines and airBaltic applied for DOT approval of a planned code-share agreement initially comprising flights on 24 routes served by airBaltic.
   16 of the code-shared routes would depart from Riga Airport, another five from Tallinn, and the remaining three from Vilnius.
   In all cases, flights would connect to Delta's European hubs at Amsterdam, Munich and Paris, while the proposed agreement would also apply to airBaltic's routes from Riga to Copenhagen, Barcelona and Madrid.
   The Baltic markets were last connected to the USA by airBaltic's earlier code-share agreement with Uzbekistan Airways until March 2018.