ENTHUSIAST ’ S CORNER Baltic Aircraft Classics
the population . Accordingly , it flew one Tupolev 134 and one Tupolev 154 to Moscow and St . Petersburg . The local airline Avies brought a breath of fresh air to the important domestic route connecting Kuressaare , on the island of Saaremaa , with Tallinn . Their BAe Jetstream 31 , named Tooru , replaced the previously used Let 410 . The freed-up commuter could thus strengthen the booming parcel service between Tallinn and Helsinki . Yet another local airline , Enimex , used all its Antonov 28s for this lucrative business , especially since the remaining fleet of Antonov 72s was marketed worldwide . This unusual STOL jet is ideal for difficult special tasks . Finally , Air Livonia flew its sole , brightly painted Antonov 28 to the island of Hiiumaa .
In Latvia , too , air traffic had to undergo a complete restructuring . As the successor to the local directorate , Latvian Airlines took over Aeroflot ’ s outdated fleet . A large number of uneconomical An 26s , Tu 134s , and Tu 154s suddenly had to deal with a new route network oriented toward neighboring Scandinavia . Despite downsizing and being renamed Latavio , the company came to an end in 1996 . Its Baltic
International subsidiary , which acquired two Tupolev 134s and even a pair of Boeing 727s in the US , was liquidated one year later . At the same time , private investors launched Riair . However , as planed cooperation with the Russian Transaero failed to work out , the latter also terminated .
The desired change was brought by the 1995 founding of Air Baltic ( BT ). BT found a strategic partner in SAS , which took a 34 % stake in the new company . Initially , it flew Fokker 50s and Avro RJ 70s from its base in Riga to a dozen scheduled destinations . During that time , the motto , “ Well connected with SAS ,” paid off for the airline .
In 2024 , three decades after Air Baltic ’ s founding , the airline is one of the region ’ s most successful . With an exclusive fleet of ultra-modern Airbus A220-300s , the now state-owned carrier is the largest operator of this aircraft type worldwide . Its 48 planes carry almost 5 million passengers a year to over 100 destinations around Europe and beyond . If all Air Baltic ’ s future orders for the Airbus 220 are fulfilled , it will eventually operate 90 of them .
www . airwaysmag . com AIRWAYS MAGAZINE JANUARY 2025 17