The flight company airBaltic has informed, that their direct flight connection to Vaasa will end and will be replaced with various co-operative connections. Flights from Vaasa to Riga have been flown since spring 2010.

The flight connection to Riga has offered travellers excellent connections for continuing flights, and Riga has also been an important travelling destination for Vaasa residents. Vaasa region has developed the air travelling systematically over a long period of time. The ceasing of the Riga connection is an unfortunate setback, especially at a time when Vaasa airport recently reported of a record year in 2012 (374 000 passengers).

airBaltic’s challenging economic situation in mind, the decision to end the Vaasa flight connection was not a complete surprise. Similar decisions have been made earlier this winter in other cities in Finland.

VASEK’s development manager within logistics, Riitta Björkenheim, is very sad about the news.
- The flight connection to Riga was the first expansion we reached through regional cooperation. Now of course we need to remain positive and continue the negotiations. Our goal is to re-open the flight connection e.g. as a seasonal connection already the upcoming summer, or in the summer of 2014.

- The flight business has experienced a lot of turbulence lately, and now that turbulence affected Vaasa. Improving and marketing flight travelling is an important part of our regional communication. Right now we are working on a strategy regarding the passenger traffic, so the developing work will continue! assures managing director Pekka Haapanen from VASEK.

- We look positively into the future. We have the flight company Norwegian in sight, which will begin flying to Stockholm at a larger scale in the end of March, says Björkenheim.

For more information, please contact:
Riitta Björkenheim
044 512 6612
riitta.bjorkenheim@vasek.fi