airBaltic picks Airline Services GSA for Finland

LATVIAN airline airBaltic has appointed Airline Services GSA as its cargo GSSA for Finland.

Airline Services GSA managing director Jari Aaltonen said: “airBaltic is an excellent replacement for Lithuanian Airlines (FlyLal), which we lost when they ceased operations early this year. FlyLal was based on trucking to Vilnius and we therefore did not manage to attract much business.

“airBaltic’s service quality and rate levels are well balanced and we expect the frequency of their flown services from Helsinki to generate strong support from the Finnish market, particularly for Riga, Vilnius, Kiev, Tel Aviv, Baku, Tbilisi and Russian destinations.

“We can now reach all major commercial cities via Riga with shipments up to 500 kgs and we have access to airBaltic’s road feeder system for larger consignments.”

Airline Services GSA has subsidiaries in Norway and Sweden, and a reciprocal representation agreement with Cargo Care International of Denmark, enabling both companies to offer total coverage of the Nordic region.

airBaltic currently operates five flights per day from Helsinki to its Riga hub, with frequent connections to 53 destinations spanning Europe, eastern Europe, Turkey, Israel and Egypt. The airline operates a 28-strong fleet of B737 and Fokker F50 aircraft with up to 1000 kg capacity per flight. From its summer schedule, airBaltic will increase flights from Helsinki to six per day.