On October 23, airBaltic, Latvia’s national carrier, announced a new codeshare agreement with Air Canada, expanding connectivity options for travelers in the Baltic region.
Transatlantic Exclusion
All three of the Baltic States’ capitals have no direct transatlantic connection to date. With a population of merely six million inhabitants, the three countries make for thin routes for any carrier to operate. airBaltic, the claimed national carrier of the Baltic States, is providing key connectivity links for the countries.
Few European network carriers are operating to Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn directly. The group includes Finnair, LOT Polish Airlines, SAS, Lufthansa Group, and British Airways. The last three are relying partially on airBaltic through their codeshare agreements. Two other connectivity providers Air France-KLM and Icelandair do not operate to any of the Baltic capitals with the latter being the only transatlantic carrier allowing airBaltic to put codes on U.S. flights.
Strategic For Both
The agreement is set to give airBaltic access to two Canadian cities; Toronto from Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, and Montreal from Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Air Canada will gain access to all three Baltic capitals through gateways in Western Europe. Riga will be connected through Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Munich, and Stockholm, Tallinn through Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, and Munich, and Vilnius through Amsterdam.
“Air Canada is very pleased to expand its longstanding relationship with airBaltic to enable greater connectivity and customer convenience when travelling between Canada and Northern Europe,” said Mark Galardo, executive vice president of revenue and network planning at Air Canada, in a news release.”This new codeshare partnership serves the strong commercial ties between Canada and the Baltic region and builds on Air Canada’s global growth strategy by leveraging its strong, non-stop network from Canada to Scandinavia and key European gateways, including Amsterdam.”
The first codeshare flight is set to begin next week.
Organic Demand for Canada-Latvia Travel
The countries are sharing a longstanding relationship. Canada was a popular emigration destination for Latvian nationals, as well as Estonians and Lithuanians, after the World War II outbreak in 1939.
The Latvian population in Canada is estimated to be close to 30.000 nowadays, with Latvia’s current population of approximately 1.8 million. The significant diaspora in Canada, and also in the United States, makes for a consistent stream of travelers to Riga, the capital of Latvia hosting the biggest airport.
