The fifth new airline this year - AeroSvit – commences flights

| 2010.04.13

On 19 April the fifth new airline this year - the Ukrainian national carrier AeroSvit – will start operations at RIGA International Airport. The Ukrainian airline will perform daily flights between Riga and Kiev.
AeroSvit on the route Kiev – Riga – Kiev will fly every day performing 7 direct flights per week. The flights will be operated by an Embraer 145 aircraft. The duration of the flight will be one hour and 45 minutes.
Flight schedule*:
• Departure from Riga 08:50 – arrival in Kiev 10:25
• Departure from Kiev 20:15 – arrival in Riga 21:55

*Local time

Krišjānis Peters, Chairman of the Board of RIGA International Airport, said: „The fact that already the fifth airline this year is commencing flights to Riga is the best tribute to the efforts made over a number of years to make RIGA International Airport more competitive. Riga has become the busiest air traffic hub in the Baltic states with a growth potential in the North European region. 17 airlines operating direct traffic to 81 destinations testify not only to the capacity of RIGA International Airport as an air transport centre, but also to the professionalism of the airport personnel and the high quality of services provided. Clearly, it is also the result of the airport’s new tariff policy, which is one of the most competitive and attractive among the airports of the European capitals. RIGA International Airport is continuing to expand its flight geography in the direction of Southern and Northern Europe and Asia. The destinations available from Riga open a wealth of travel opportunities to the population of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania that is our local market, and also boost the number of those transfer passengers who prefer to fly through Riga to Scandinavia, Southern Europe, Russia and the CIS countries.”

The airline AeroSvit was founded in 1994 and now is the biggest air carrier in Ukraine. Currently AeroSvit is offering the richest choice of flight destinations from Ukraine. The airline operates on 60 international routes connecting Ukraine with capitals, business centres and health resorts in 29 countries, including Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the USA, and the United Arab Emirates. AeroSvit also carries passengers to several administrative centres of Ukraine: Dnepropetrovsk, Doneck, Zaporozhe, Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov, Odessa, Simferopol and Kharkov.

There are 17 Boeing airplanes in AeroSvit fleet. In the coming years AeroSvit is planning to renew and multiply its fleet almost 3.5 times. The carrier intends by 2011 to start flying the new generation Boeing 737-800 NG – the medium and large long-haul aircraft.

In the summer season of 2010 the following airlines will operate flights from RIGA International Airport: airBaltic, SmartLynx, Lufthansa, Finnair, Ryanair, LOT, Czech Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot, Uzbekistan Airways, WizzAir, WindJet, Belavia, TAROM, City Airline, AeroSvit.