Booked Budapest for February? Check your inbox. The airBaltic winter routes map out of Riga just lost five more cities, and some people who already paid are finding their flights moved or cancelled.
From late October to late March, airBaltic won’t fly from Riga to Bucharest, Sofia, Budapest or Oulu, and it’s dropping Riga–Innsbruck altogether, the airline told Latvian Radio on 9 October.
Key facts
- Off for winter, back in summer: Bucharest, Sofia, Budapest, Oulu
- Dropped, no return date given: Innsbruck
- Fewer flights in January and February: Copenhagen, Oslo, Vienna, Munich (still daily, Delfi reports)
- Schedule changes in some winter months: Madeira, Prague
- Still flying: more than 45 direct destinations from Riga this winter
Why is airBaltic cutting winter routes?
Fuel. Jet fuel prices shot up after the conflict in the Middle East broke out, and fuel now makes up a third of airBaltic’s costs, says Augusts Zilberts, the airline’s head of public and political relations. In the quiet months, these routes don’t fill enough seats to pay for it.
“Quite simply, flight frequency will be lower,” an airBaltic spokesperson said.
It’s one more squeeze on a national airline that spent the summer chasing €225 million and hunting for a new investor.
What if your airBaltic flight was cancelled?
airBaltic says affected passengers can switch to another available flight up to 14 days before or after the original date, or ask for a refund.
And this comes on top of the seven Riga routes airBaltic had already parked for winter: Faro, Kittilä, Ljubljana, Malta, Marrakesh, Salzburg and Dubai. That’s 12 cities off the winter board from Riga. Ljubljana comes back next summer.
Check your booking now, not at the gate.
