Air Baltic to resume non-EU flights

Latvian carrier Air Baltic is to begin restoring flights outside of the European Union, initially resuming services to the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Air Baltic will operate Riga-Kiev flights from 17 March. It plans to follow from the start of the summer schedule on 28 March by resuming flights to Georgian capital Tbilisi, Tel Aviv in Israel, the Russian cities of Moscow and St Peterburg, and the Belarusian capital Minsk. Airline CE Martin Gauss says: ”Now that flights from Latvia to countries outside the European Union are allowed, we are gradually resuming connections to a few key destinations, to improve the essential connectivity we provide for the Baltic region. For many people, who need to travel for essential reasons, aviation is the safest mode of transportation.” Air Baltic carried out just 480 flights in February – compared with over 4,100 for the same month in 2020 – and handled just 23,500 passengers. This is the lowest number flown by the carrier since it resumed flights in May last year following a temporary grounding when the pandemic first hit.<br/>