Comments on: Flying With Air Baltic

By: Rod

Rod — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 19:57:27 +0000

“this avoids any pinching or crushing when the person in front of you reclines”

Whoa, then it Has got something on EasyJet (man, that’s how I write it).
I’m quite attached to EasyJet at this point. Seems like a good outfit.

Got the Third Degree (yes, a tiny tube of toothpaste) at Nantes the other day. I told the lady “Applicable legislation deters me from say what’s on my mind about that tube of toothpaste.” She probably thought to herself “Good thing!”

By: Carlos

Carlos — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 09:35:56 +0000

Erm… easyJet, not EasyJet, is another example of “unusual branding affectation”, as you call it, with a small “e” and then a capital “J”.

By: Will Glass

Will Glass — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 08:01:53 +0000

Back in the day when I had to leave Schengen to renew my 90 day visa, I flew airBaltic from Warsaw to Kiev via Riga. I had very similar experience to what you describe, except I don’t recall hassles at security. I once had a very long layover in Riga (8 hours plus), but that gave me the chance to leave the airport, walk around Riga, and have a nice lunch. Here’s the point: airBaltic made it very easy to do that with a shuttle that took you to the old town and there were a lot of busses (every 30 minutes?), so rushing back to catch a flight wasn’t a problem.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 16:11:36 +0000

I flew a Delta A220 for the first time in April from Cincinnati to Boston, and thought it was a wonderful plane – quite a lovely upgrade from the RJ.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 31 May 2023 19:36:38 +0000

Funny timing. I just flew an AirBaltic flight (LX codeshare) CDG-ZRH in business. The food was really nice (fresh ricotta salad) for a 1.5 hour flight and the plane seemed new. No seatback screens, of course, but there were tiny screens hanging from the overhead bins which showed the flight map. I wouldn’t hesitate to fly them again.

What fraction is their own flying and what fraction for Swiss?

By: Alfred Pfister

Alfred Pfister — Wed, 31 May 2023 17:30:19 +0000

Thanks a lot for this review, Patrick! I’ll have my first short flight with airBaltic in three weeks (from Zurich to Nuremberg) and I’m also quite excited to add another airline to my list!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 31 May 2023 17:27:21 +0000

In reply to Matt Wilda. What I remember is that each gate has a different corporate sponsor, and is done up in the colors and designs of that company.

By: Matt Wilda

Matt Wilda — Wed, 31 May 2023 17:22:23 +0000

I have never flown on Air Baltic, but I’ve been to the Tallinn airport. Do they still have the bright, festive colors on the seats? In 2014 when I was there each gate had its own pattern; the seats at my gate had a rainbow striped motif. It was a fun change from the usual boring grey or blue airport seats.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 26 May 2023 00:18:35 +0000

I flew on what I think was either a wet-leased or codeshare Air Baltic flight earlier this year from Zurich to Manchester (the original Manchester, not the fake one in New Hampshire) as part of a Singapore-Zurich-Manchester flight. On the same trip, I did a proper short-haul Swiss flight, from Rome to Zurich on an A320, and a couple of longer runs on Swiss 777s.

The Swiss short-haul flight was OK, but the plane was a bit old and shabby.

I thought the Baltic flight was lovely. It was an A220 as well – the first one I’d flown on – and I really liked the cabin design. It felt really open and airy, and (possibly because I was still unravelling after 12 hours on the 777 from Singapore), there seemed to be absolutely loads of legroom and hip room. The staff were friendly and helpful. And my kids can vouch for the quality of the wraps: they said they were excellent.

It was the nicest short-haul flights I’ve been on in ages: I really was pleasantly surprised.

And yes, both the plane and the airline are new ones to add to my list too.