On April 3, the Latvian national airline airBaltic began direct flights to Vienna. Flights are scheduled to depart twice a week: on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Initially, airBaltic had planned three flights a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays), however, negotiations with Austrian Airlines produced only a temporary agreement for the month of April: airBaltic will have two weekly flights to Vienna, and Austrian Airlines will maintain its current flight schedule - seven flights a week. Final agreement has not yet been reached and both airlines are continuing negotiations.

The Austrian Civil Aviation Administration did not accept airBaltic`s, as CAA put it, “low-price tariffs”. However, after both airlines had agreed on the flight schedule, the Austrian CAA agreed to accept the airBaltic rates for a period of one month. Negotiations between the two companies will continue. Future cooperation will depend on the outcome of the negotiations. A new agreement on flight schedules and rates must be reached by the beginning of May.

airBaltic President and CEO Bertolt Flick had this to say about the coming talks: “We are expecting a positive outcome because we are convinced that our flights together with those of Austrian Airlines will improve the market positions of both companies.”

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