airBaltic to launch new Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro flights

Latvian flag carrier airBaltic will introduce new flights to Belgrade, Split, Dubrovnik and Tivat during the 2023 summer season as part of a major network expansion which includes eighteen routes. The airline will commence two weekly flights from Riga to Belgrade on May 16, marking its return to the Serbian capital after twelve years. It initially maintained flights between the two cities from 2009 until 2011 but discontinued operations along with several other destinations as the carrier struggled with financial problems and a fleet shortage at the time. airBaltic's CEO, Martin Gauss, recently told EX-YU Aviation News, "We are always discussing Belgrade. It is on the list of routes we are looking at launching and if it makes sense, out of all the routes that we could fly to, we would definitely go there. Belgrade is extremely interesting to us, and the route has potential”. airBaltic and Air Serbia are codeshare partners and are likely to expand their partnership next year.

The airline will grow its presence in Croatia with the introduction of flights from Tallinn to Split and Dubrovnik from May 1 and May 2 respectively. Both routes will be maintained twice per week. They will complement the carrier’s existing seasonal operations from Riga to Split, Dubrovnik and Rijeka, as well as from Vilnius to Dubrovnik. Explaining the airline’s absence from Zagreb, Mr Gauss said, "There is good connectivity from Zagreb to other markets with Croatia Airlines. You are set up well in that region and linked with Lufthansa hubs of Munich and Vienna. If there was no connectivity, I'm sure we could do something more on the Croatian market, but we are focusing on expanding first where we can see that we can fill aircraft the easiest, as all airlines do".

airBaltic will enter the Montenegrin market on May 4 with a two weekly rotation between Riga and Tivat. The airline has never served Montenegro in the past. All destinations will be operated by the 145-seat Airbus A220 aircraft, which is the only type in the airline’s fleet. “This is the largest number of new routes in a single season we have ever seen at airBaltic. We continue to be committed to our home cities in the Baltics and improving connectivity to and from the region. We are glad to expand airBaltic’s offering for the next summer season both with new route additions and increased flight frequencies on our existing leisure and city break routes”, Mr Gauss concluded.

Route	Launch date
Tallinn - Split	MAY 1
Tallinn - Dubrovnik	MAY 2
Riga - Tivat	MAY 4
Riga - Belgrade	MAY 16

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