airBaltic to Match Ideal Seat Neighbours

Janis Vanags | 2012.06.05

The Latvian national airline airBaltic has launched a world-leading service airBaltic SeatBuddy that enables customers to sit next to passengers with similar interests or travel mood.

Michael Grimme, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing of airBaltic: “airBaltic has been recognised amongst TOP 10 airlines globally for innovation. Our aim is to continuously improve services to our passengers, travelling to and from our 60 destinations in Europe, Middle East, Russia and the CIS. We are delighted to introduce this new service, as our customers can be seated next to like-minded travellers. We are launching this as a free-of-charge additional service, and at the same time exploring its future commercial potential.”

To be seated next to an ideal neighbour, passengers indicate their preferred “flight mood”, as well as hobies, interests, or activities shared on social media. Those who want to concentrate on work choose “Work” and those who want to find new business contacts choose the “Business Talk” area. Passengers who prefer silence and do not want to be disturbed during the flight will choose “Relax”. Customer information is collected in a secure database, and the closest match available on the same flight is identified automatically without disclosing passenger identity or any personal data. The first test flights with intelligent seating will take-off at the end of June. airBaltic SeatBuddy solution is powered by Satisfly.

As announced previously, airBaltic was ranked by Airlinetrends among the Top 10 airlines globally for a wide array of innovations, including world’s first inflight car dealership for custom-designed Mini Cooper, roses on board, iPad as inflight entertainment, world’s first bicycle rental scheme by an airline BalticBike, BalticTaxi cab service, organic meals for business class, and many more.

airBaltic serves 60 destinations with direct flights from its home base in Riga, Latvia. From every one of these, airBaltic offers convenient connections via North Hub Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS and the Middle East.

More information: www.airBaltic.com/SeatBuddy

airBalticin brief:  

AIR BALTIC CORPORATION (airBaltic) is a joint stock company that was established in 1995. The primary shareholder is Latvian state with 99.8% of stock. The airBaltic fleet consists of 34 aircraft – six Boeing 737-500, eight Boeing 737-300, two Boeing 757-200, ten Fokker 50 airplanes and eight Bombardier Q400Next Gen. airBaltic offers nonstop flights from three Baltic capital cities – Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn. airBaltic received the title of Airline of the Year 2009/2010 (Gold Award) from the European Regions Airline Association. airBaltic is the winner of Air Transport World Phoenix Award 2010 – a global recognition of excellence in restructuring business. airBaltic won a special Pacesetter Award 2010 from the Jury of the Budgies World Low Cost Airline Awards, recognising achievements of airBaltic as a hybrid airline.

Satisflyin brief:

Satisfly is an innovative solution provider for the travel industry. Satisfly’s solution stands at the crossroads between digital and travel, being the first to leverage social media for enhancing air travel experience. Satisfly’s patented Intelligent Seating service allows partner airlines’ customers to be matched with compatible seat neighbours. Such compatibility is based on the air travellers’ social media profile and their flight preferences, which can be set by signing up for free at www.satisfly.com. Satisfly was founded in 2008 in Hong Kong.

For further information, please contact:

, Vice President Corporate Communications

A/S

Riga International Airport

LV-1053 Riga, Latvia