Latvia’s airBaltic to launch new Yekaterinburg flights in 2020

A new summer seasonal route between Riga and Russia’s Yekaterinburg will be launched by Latvian airline airBaltic on April 1, the company has announced.

According to airBaltic, the new connection will offer more convenient travel options for travelers from the Baltics and Russia to the airline’s network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS, and the Middle East.

“We are delighted to add Yekaterinburg as the 14th new destination to our summer 2020 route map. Every year more than half of all passengers from Russia are choosing Riga as a transfer hub to over 70 destinations in Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS, and the Middle East served by airBaltic. By launching flights from Riga to Yekaterinburg, we are offering one additional gateway between Europe and Russia and vice versa,” said Martin Gauss, CEO of airBaltic.

Yekaterinburg will be the sixth destination airBaltic serves in Russia, in addition to connections between Riga and Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Sochi and Kazan. According to the company, the number of passengers has been growing each year. Thus, in 2019 airBaltic has carried by 16% more passengers than last year on Russian routes.

AirBaltic will fly from Riga to Yekaterinburg two times weekly and plans to use its Airbus A220-300 aircraft for a flight that will last approximately three hours and five minutes.