RIGA - Rising fuel costs have forced Latvia's national carrier airBaltic to boost ticket prices by 7 euros, airBaltic President Bertolt Flick announced early last month.
"If fuel prices climb any more, then it will be very unpleasant," the president said. "The additional costs will be applied only as long as fuel prices remain so high."
He added, however, that the additional fees could be dropped if fuel prices, which are now 70 percent to 90 percent higher than last year, eventually fell.
"It's slowly becoming a painful issue. The influence on costs is around half a million lats a month," he said.
As of Nov. 1, Riga Airport's development fee of 7 lats was canceled, allowing the airline to compete with incoming rivals Ryanair and Easyjet. And airBaltic ticket prices could drop around 20 percent in the future, according to Flick.
Meanwhile, other airlines operating in Riga had varied opinions on the fuel's effect on ticket prices. British Airways Baltic representative Tom Anderson said that, as the company already boosted ticket prices in June, no further hikes were expected. He added that the company had already bought 70 percent of the fuel needed for 2004.
Austrian Airlines in Riga said that the increase in fuel costs affected all airlines, raising ticket prices by 1 euro on all short and medium distance routes in Europe, and 10 euros for farther routes.
Latvia's quickly growing fuel price was caused by a global hike in oil prices. The introduction of higher excise tax rates after EU membership is also a significant factor. The state owns 52.6 percent of airBaltic, while SAS owns the remaining 47.2 percent.
