• 

  airBaltic

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  BI/BTI

  Airline Type:

  Hybrid Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Riga International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1995

  CEO:

  Martin Gauss

  Country:

  Latvia

Following December’s announcement of its intent to open a new European base, Latvian carrier airBaltic has launched its first Finnish base at Tampere–Pirkkala Airport with six new services starting this month.

Speaking during a special event to mark the occasion, Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic, said,

“As of today we call Tampere one of our bases. The opening of the new base provides new travel opportunities for both our current and future passengers. We hope that the passenger demand will gradually grow, therefore we may launch additional new destinations to various business hubs and leisure destinations over time.”

Fresh beginnings

Starting this month, the airline will reconnect the city to some of Europe's major hubs by operating three weekly direct flights from the Finnish city to Oslo, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Munich. Additional services to sunny holiday hotspots Malaga and Rhodes will see twice-weekly flights. From June, airBaltic will also launch two weekly services to Amsterdam. Its ongoing Tampere to Riga route will have six weekly flights.

Mari Nurminen, VP Director for Central and Eastern Finland Airports and Tampere-Pirkkala Airport Manager at Finavia, noted,

“We are delighted to celebrate airBaltic’s new base at Tampere-Pirkkala Airport. This launch marks a great milestone in the long cooperation between Finavia and airBaltic. Seven new routes bring a great variety of European cities close to both leisure and business travelers of Tampere-Pirkkala area, which we can all be very happy about.”

Why Tampere?

Speaking to Simple Flying earlier this year, Gauss noted the airline's interest in the city, selecting it ahead of five other airports to increase connectivity in the region and grow the airline’s hub in Riga.

Tampere is the second-largest city in Finland, with around one million people in the airport’s catchment area. Notably, Finnair and Ryanair have decreased operations at the airport over the past decade, which has seen passenger numbers drop from 709,000 in 2008 to 222,000 in 2019.

It looks to be a positive recovery for the airport, which has also seen a return from SAS. The Scandinavian carrier will be operating direct flights from Stockholm through May for the 2022 Ice Hockey World Championship, with a resumption of scheduled services set for August.

Anna-Kaisa Ikonen, Mayor of Tampere, added,

“The airBaltic base ensures that we now have seamless connections to the world. Direct flights to Europe ensure the success and development of the Tampere metropolitan area. This is a great opportunity to our export industries, event and experience economy as well as leisure passengers.”

Oslo and Copenhagen services will be operated under a codeshare agreement with SAS, while Frankfurt and Munich routes will be codeshared with Lufthansa.

The airline has formed closer ties with the Star Alliance airlines over the previous several years, having signed codeshare agreements with Aegean Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and LOT Polish Airlines, raising questions about whether it will stay alliance free for much longer.

Have you visited Tampere Airport? What other routes would you like to see airBaltic add? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Yleisradio Oy