airBaltic launches BalticCargo

LATVIAN airline airBaltic has acquired full ownership of a cargo business at Riga International Airport (Latvia) and will operate it under a new BalticCargo brand.

Bertolt Flick, president and chief executive officer of airBaltic, said: “Latvia is currently the fastest growing passenger aviation market in the EU. In our view, the cargo market has the potential to grow in a similar fashion, given Riga’s favourable geographic location and the airport’s expanding network of flights.”

Riga is the EU’s closest airport to China and already has well-established cargo flows to and from Russia and the CIS, Scandinavia, Western Europe and Asia.

BalticCargo will offer a full range of cargo-handling services for passenger and freighter aircraft, as well as cargo handling facilities.

For 2009 airBaltic announced €20 million preliminary profit. In 2010, it will open at least nine new direct routes from Riga, including Amman, Belgrade, Beirut, Kuusamo, Madrid, Manchester, Rovaniemi and Umea and Vaasa.