WOW: AIRBALTIC'S EXTRA HOCKEY FLIGHTS SOLD OUT IN JUST 60 MINUTES
Following the historic success of the Latvian men's national ice hockey team reaching the semi-finals of the 86th IIHF World Championships last week, flag carrier airBaltic immediately announced the launch of spontaneous special flights between the capital city Riga and Finnish city Tampere.
These additional charter flights were on top of the regularly scheduled flights that airBaltic offered between the two cities and were meant to cater to the fans who wanted to watch the remaining matches live in support of the Latvian men's national ice hockey team. However, the flag carrier certainly underestimated the support for the sport.
All sold out within the hour
Within an hour of releasing tickets for these additional flights, airBaltic announced that everything was quickly booked out. But given the undoubted high demand, the airline announced that more would be offered on May 27th and 29th. On May 27th, there were two extra flights from Riga International Airport to Tampere–Pirkkala Airport at 04:00 and 06:40.
Then on May 29th, two extra flights were added from Tampere to Riga at 01:10 and 01:20. The flight schedules were also tweaked so that fans did not have to look for prolonged accommodation, and additional busses were provided. And if the supporting spirit couldn't get any stronger, airBaltic promised passengers it would continue to inform about the results of hockey team games across all flights - regardless of destination.
At this time of writing, the Latvian men's national ice hockey team did their utmost best to clinch their first-ever bronze medal at the championship. airBaltic also certainly kept true to its promise, with the flight decks of several flights announcing the team's fantastic win and allowing passengers to celebrate in the air the best way they could.
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Additional aircraft, additional flights
While airBaltic has been highly supportive of the hockey team, the airline has also been progressively growing its international route network. Earlier this month, the airline announced the launch of its would-be second-longest route between Vilnius International Airport and Dubai International Airport, with the inaugural flight scheduled for November 1st.
And with a growing network and all these spontaneous chartered flights, the flag carrier will also require an expanding fleet. And as the largest Airbus A220-300 operator worldwide, airBaltic further strengthened that title a couple of days ago after welcoming its 42nd narrowbody to its fleet. At this time of writing, the new fleet addition has already been activated for duty and is busy flying several legs between Riga and Tallinn Lennart Meri Airport.
Altogether, airBaltic's single-type fleet has carried more than 11.6 million passengers worldwide, and the airline is looking to transport even more in the months and years to come - especially since it anticipates receiving its 50th Airbus A220-300 by next summer. The flag carrier also plans to double the fleet to 100 aircraft within this decade and wants to expand its bases to allow for more opportunities to launch new routes.
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