Why a Flight Can Cost €39 One Way and €200 Back: airBaltic Explains Price Gaps

Latvia's national airline airBaltic has explained why a ticket on one leg of a route can cost 39 euros while the return leg costs around 200 euros. The question came from a reader named Kārlis, who contacted the news portal LA.LV after noticing such a gap while searching for a flight from Riga to a European city. The explanation may help passengers understand how fares are set and plan their purchases.

Demand and competition

According to Augusts Zilberts, airBaltic's head of public and political relations, ticket prices are mainly shaped by demand and supply, as well as competition in a given market and on a given route. He says it is therefore not unusual for fares on the same route to differ significantly between directions.

Different price categories

One reason is the availability of different fare categories. Tickets typically go on sale about a year before departure. The lowest-priced categories are available first, and once they sell out, only higher-priced ones remain. A flight from Riga may therefore still have tickets at 39 euros, while the cheapest fares on the return flight may already be gone, leaving the passenger to pay considerably more.

Prices are also affected by seasonality, the day of the week, holiday periods and other factors. Depending on demand, they can change within hours or days, so the same route may show different offers on different dates.

How to find a better deal

To get a better price, airBaltic recommends planning trips in advance and, where possible, comparing prices on different dates. If travel dates are flexible, it is worth checking several departure and return dates, since even a small change can sometimes yield cheaper tickets. Before buying, it is also advisable to check the total cost of all flights.