AirBaltic

The Latvian airline AirBaltic was founded in 1995 and keeps its main centre of operations at Riga International Airport, with a secondary hub at Vilnius. Over the past decade, the airline has grown from its meagre beginnings to be a force in Eastern Europe with flights to destinations all across Europe and North Africa. It has become one of the leading low-cost airline providers in Eastern Europe, handling more than 1.5 million passengers every year.

Six years after its inception, in 2001, AirBaltic celebrated the service of its one millionth passenger. Later that same year, net profits were announced for the first time and the company began to shore up its image and improve strategies. Soon after, AirBaltic joined the trend in restructuring ticketing and pricing so that all prices reflect demand of that particular flight on that particular day, allowing maximum savings for more flexible customers.

The reservation system changed over to its current online format so that most tickets are purchased without any direct assistance from a live paid employee. AirBaltic also became a pioneer among the Baltic States when they were the first airline to capitalize on reciprocal agreements between EU member nations and set up bases of operations across borders in neighbouring countries. By 2005, it had opened a hub at the airport in Vilnius and had crossed the throughput threshold of a million passengers in a single year.

Today, AirBaltic operates a fleet of 16 aircraft. Nine of these are Fokker 50s and the rest are Boeing 737s. The company continues to grow by a significant percentage every year and continuous efforts to streamline operations and eliminate unnecessary costs are constantly monitored to keep prices low. Passengers will find that booking and check-in procedures are effortless and mostly automated, using modern, self check-in kiosks whenever possible.