Air Baltic files Moscow flight plan

RIGA - Three years after it applied for permission, Latvian national carrier Air Baltic will be landing with passengers in Moscow. Latvian Minister of Transportation Vilis Kristopans received permission during talks in Moscow last week.

Air Baltic Vice President Olegs Korse told reporters Sept. 21, that scheduled flights would start on Oct. 26, the beginning of the winter flight season.

"We had to coordinate landing and take-off times and other technical procedures," said Korse, who also attended the Moscow confab.

As Air Baltic is serving Moscow, the Russian carrier Aeroflot may want equal time on the Moscow-Riga flight path, Korse said.

"Russian airline Aeroflot has submitted suggestions that there will be a heavier package coming to the Baltics from Russia," he said.

Air Baltic would like to fly to Russia daily, but that depends on airport schedules and studies of passenger patterns and demands. Korse is eyeing railroad passenger loads for possible customers, as well as other airlines, he said.

"We could maybe get some market share from Scandinavian airlines that fly from Riga to Moscow," he said.