AirBaltic Optimizes Winter Schedule, Suspends Tallinn–London Route

Latvian carrier AirBaltic has revised its winter flight schedule, cancelling flights between Tallinn and London Gatwick for the upcoming winter season, which in civil aviation runs from late October to late March. The route is expected to resume with the start of next year's summer season.

The airline told ERR that it is reviewing its winter timetable across the entire route network, including selected destinations from Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. The changes involve suspending a limited number of routes and adjusting flight frequencies to better match capacity with expected demand. AirBaltic stressed that the adjustments affect only a small part of the network and represent standard practice in the aviation industry.

Eero Pärgmäe, a member of the management board at Tallinn Airport, noted that passenger numbers in the region are traditionally about 20% lower in winter than in summer, so the number of destinations also shrinks. During the upcoming winter season, AirBaltic plans to operate from Tallinn to 12 destinations: Amsterdam, Brussels, Geneva, Malaga, Munich, Paris, Riga, Salzburg, Tenerife, Vienna, Vilnius and Funchal.

Pärgmäe also pointed to positive news: Eurowings has decided to extend its Tallinn–Dusseldorf service, which was launched this summer, into the winter season. Flights will operate until November 13, then from December 18 to January 4, and again from March 8. Wizz Air will retain most of its summer routes, while Jet2.com will serve Tallinn from five British cities during the Christmas tourism period instead of three: Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds-Bradford and London Gatwick. Pärgmäe said Jet2.com has put nearly twice as many tickets on sale for Tallinn as last winter, and about 10,000 passengers from the UK are expected to use them.

AirBaltic said passengers affected by the cancelled flights will be offered alternatives, such as another flight within 14 days before or after the original departure date, or a refund via the airline's website.

Last year, AirBaltic posted a net loss of 44.34 million euros, 2.7 times smaller than the previous year. Turnover grew 4.2% to 779.34 million euros. A bondholders' meeting scheduled for this week, at which the carrier planned to request short-term financing, was postponed to August 17 due to a lack of quorum. The company is due to pay interest on its credit obligations three days before that.

Currently, 15 airlines operate regular flights from Tallinn Airport: AirBaltic, Eurowings, Finnair, Jet2.com, LOT, Lufthansa, Norwegian, NyxAir, Pegasus, Ryanair, SAS, SunExpress, SWISS, Turkish Airlines and Wizz Air.