airBaltic TLL-RIX
Aug 8, 2003 | 2:43 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,269
airBaltic TLL-RIX
This trip report is about my first experience on Latvian national airline airBaltic (BT). I will make it as short as possible. Syntax errors are to be expected.
Late evening flight from Tallinn (TLL) to Riga (RIX) was operated by Fokker-50 equipment. Those turboprops are main workhorses for airBaltic, whose fleet consists of four Fokker-50 and three Avro 70 aircrafts.
Particular aircraft I had chance to be on was named after city of Riga and wear bright color scheme featuring some sort of exotic bird ( http://www.airliners.net/open.file/392150/L/ ) and advertisement of airBaltic new one-way fares. Tallinn to Riga one way prices start from 500 EEK (~32 EUR) at the moment, but load was still quite light: only about 25 persons were on board.
airBaltic has configured their Fokkers for 46 passengers (in one class seating). Seat-pitch was therefore good, but seat-width remained merely tolerable. Service started about 10 minutes after take-off and was provided by two young looking flight attendants, who were quite professional, but could have smiled just more often. Free soft drinks - orange juice, tomato juice, coca-cola, coca-cola light, still and sparkling water - were offered with or without ice. Coffee and tea were served from really nice ceramic cups. Neither snacks nor alcohol were available on this short intra-Baltic flight. Total absence of booze seemed to slightly disappoint some passengers (note: one can also pay a max of 5310 EEK (~340 EUR) for this service if really out of luck).
During the flight what last about 40 minutes and took us over Estonian resort of Prnu and isolated island of Ruhnu, I had chance to introduce myself to
airBaltics complimentary take-away magazine "Baltic outlook". This journal is in English, is about 70 pages long and has quite interesting content. June/July edition included, for example, well-written interview with Kurt Vonnegut.
Its a quite good in-flight magazine in my opinion and free to take a way.
Approach started over the bay of Riga and we landed in Riga International airport very softly. Airport is recently renovated and located only 10 kilometers from city center, but passenger terminal is way too huge in my opinion. At this late hour (we arrived around 10PM) whole airfield felt quite deserted, which, from the other hand, really speed up immigration formalities.
Side note: RIX is only airport I know of having a passenger loyalty program. It is called Nova and offers simply irresistible prizes (for example, one can get whole 5% off from Laima sweets after collecting 100 points). More details can be found by clicking here http://www.riga-airport.com/nova.asp?target=punkti
What can be said about airBaltic for the end? AFAIK they were profitable in the 2002 and their new low-fare concept seems to be doing well. They continue to participate in SAS Eurobonus program and will also introduce regular flights from Riga to Belorussian capital Minsk (MSQ) during month of August - a interesting route which may also attract connecting passengers from Scandinavian countries.
[This message has been edited by fokker50 (edited 08-08-2003).]
Late evening flight from Tallinn (TLL) to Riga (RIX) was operated by Fokker-50 equipment. Those turboprops are main workhorses for airBaltic, whose fleet consists of four Fokker-50 and three Avro 70 aircrafts.
Particular aircraft I had chance to be on was named after city of Riga and wear bright color scheme featuring some sort of exotic bird ( http://www.airliners.net/open.file/392150/L/ ) and advertisement of airBaltic new one-way fares. Tallinn to Riga one way prices start from 500 EEK (~32 EUR) at the moment, but load was still quite light: only about 25 persons were on board.
airBaltic has configured their Fokkers for 46 passengers (in one class seating). Seat-pitch was therefore good, but seat-width remained merely tolerable. Service started about 10 minutes after take-off and was provided by two young looking flight attendants, who were quite professional, but could have smiled just more often. Free soft drinks - orange juice, tomato juice, coca-cola, coca-cola light, still and sparkling water - were offered with or without ice. Coffee and tea were served from really nice ceramic cups. Neither snacks nor alcohol were available on this short intra-Baltic flight. Total absence of booze seemed to slightly disappoint some passengers (note: one can also pay a max of 5310 EEK (~340 EUR) for this service if really out of luck).
During the flight what last about 40 minutes and took us over Estonian resort of Prnu and isolated island of Ruhnu, I had chance to introduce myself to
airBaltics complimentary take-away magazine "Baltic outlook". This journal is in English, is about 70 pages long and has quite interesting content. June/July edition included, for example, well-written interview with Kurt Vonnegut.
Its a quite good in-flight magazine in my opinion and free to take a way.
Approach started over the bay of Riga and we landed in Riga International airport very softly. Airport is recently renovated and located only 10 kilometers from city center, but passenger terminal is way too huge in my opinion. At this late hour (we arrived around 10PM) whole airfield felt quite deserted, which, from the other hand, really speed up immigration formalities.
Side note: RIX is only airport I know of having a passenger loyalty program. It is called Nova and offers simply irresistible prizes (for example, one can get whole 5% off from Laima sweets after collecting 100 points). More details can be found by clicking here http://www.riga-airport.com/nova.asp?target=punkti
What can be said about airBaltic for the end? AFAIK they were profitable in the 2002 and their new low-fare concept seems to be doing well. They continue to participate in SAS Eurobonus program and will also introduce regular flights from Riga to Belorussian capital Minsk (MSQ) during month of August - a interesting route which may also attract connecting passengers from Scandinavian countries.
[This message has been edited by fokker50 (edited 08-08-2003).]
Aug 8, 2003 | 10:27 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: AA CK; BA Gold; Hyatt Globalist; Bonvoy LTT; IHG Plat; Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,220
fokker50,
what agreat report! I was actually looking at airBaltic and Estonian Air online last night over a glass of chardonnay
, trying to decide where I want to go, RIX or TLL in March (I have a trip to Moscow then, and just want to fly to either city from SVO for two days/one night). I decided to go with TLL, as OV has much better prices and schedules in and out of SVO compared to airBaltic. So, TLL, here I come!
PS DME (Domodedovo Airport) in Moscow also has a loyalty program with similar fascinating discounts you've described
http://www.domodedovo.ru/en/main/infopass/domclub/
what agreat report! I was actually looking at airBaltic and Estonian Air online last night over a glass of chardonnay
, trying to decide where I want to go, RIX or TLL in March (I have a trip to Moscow then, and just want to fly to either city from SVO for two days/one night). I decided to go with TLL, as OV has much better prices and schedules in and out of SVO compared to airBaltic. So, TLL, here I come!PS DME (Domodedovo Airport) in Moscow also has a loyalty program with similar fascinating discounts you've described
http://www.domodedovo.ru/en/main/infopass/domclub/
Aug 8, 2003 | 4:19 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, DL, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Radisson, GHA
Posts: 7,583
Thanks for this report. I didn't realize that airBaltic had gone into the low-fare business. This will certainly make my next trip to the Baltics less costly!
As for the Nova program, I actually liked the Laima chocolates the last time I tried...
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truly yours. airOli.
As for the Nova program, I actually liked the Laima chocolates the last time I tried...
------------------
truly yours. airOli.