airBaltic could offer direct flights to further destinations – Lithuanian Airports CEO

VILNIUS – Latvia's national airline airBaltic, in which Lithuania is considering buying a stake, could offer direct flights from Lithuania to more distant destinations, Simonas Bartkus, CEO of Lietuvos Oro Uostai (Lithuanian Airports, LTOU), said on Monday. 

"We are working with traditional carriers from neighboring countries to connect our airports with as frequent flights as possible and with larger hubs around us," Bartkus told the Ziniu Radijas radio station. 

"We have flights to Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and Warsaw, the hubs that are critically important for that indirect connection," the CEO said. 

"I think airBaltic can fill the niche between these two worlds and offer frequencies on direct flights to destinations that may be somewhat more distant but are very important for businesses, and where there may not be any network carriers interested in our market," he added. 

According to Bartkus, airBaltic could expand the geography of flights from Lithuania to other German cities, as the potential of these destinations is growing due both to the deployment of Germany's brigade in Lithuania and to tourism from Germany to the Baltic countries.

airBaltic is currently the third largest air carrier in Lithuania, with two of its aircraft currently based in Vilnius for direct flights, the CEO said.