Latvian carrier, airBaltic, is launching a new route from Riga to Heraklion in Greece on 15 May, 2021. The twice-weekly scheduled flights will be operated by an Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
“We are optimistic about the upcoming summer season,” said Martin Gauss, CEO of airBaltic commenting on the new link.
“If travel in general will be possible and the epidemiological situation will improve as the vaccination levels increase, demand for air travel will return. We will be prepared for that, thus during the upcoming days we will be revealing several new destinations, in addition to Heraklion in Greece. This summer season airBaltic aims to offer a wide range of safe connections from Riga.”
This week, Riga Airport became the first and so far only airport in the Baltic States to join more than 30 European airports employing A-CDM (Airport Collaborative Decision Making) procedures which allow for significantly improving service quality and safety for airspace users and passengers. The introduction of A-CDM, which was a joint effort of the air navigation service provider state joint stock company, Latvijas gaisa satiksme (LGS) and Riga Airport, ensures the timely exchange of accurate information between the airport operator, aircraft operators, ground handling services, air traffic controllers and other parties involved from flight planning until the aircraft lands on the runway. It will also allow for an increase of the capacity of Riga Airport when the normal flight regime is restored.
Innovative airline
airBaltic has also this week announced that it will become the world’s first airline to issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The limited edition NFTs showcasing an individual Airbus A220-300 with its registration as well as a piece of art of one of the most beloved Latvian cities to promote tourism and Latvia around the world.
“The blockchain technology has proven to be here long-term. After being the first airline to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, it is the next step for us in blockchain technology to offer non-fungible tokens,” said Gauss. He explained that the NFTs are not only used for digital art transactions, but may also be expanded to tickets for concerts and other unique one-time pieces, including airline tickets. “The issue of the limited collector NFTs will serve as a tourism campaign for Latvian cities, certainly still an undiscovered destination for many,” Gauss added.
