A cheap connection from Latvia to the East (AirBaltic)

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	AirBaltic
Date:	24/06/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap flights to Central Asia, Israel and The Caucusus

Disadvantages: Not a great deal of room, quite pricey, annoying website

AirBaltic is the national airline of Latvia and they connect Riga with both the west and east. The service could be better but I personally appreciate the service as it provides some much needed cheap connections from the Baltic countries to Central Asia and The Caucusus, as well as Israel. Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan,. It's not really cheap but it's the best you'll find price wise to these destinations from this region. Expect to pay around £100.

The one time I had a flight booked with this company from Yerevan to Riga, they decided to cancel the connection and re-route me to Vienna with Austrian Airlines. Initially I thought this was going to be a great deal as Austrian Airlines are usually expensive but I was less than impressed when I discovered it was one of the worst airlines in existence with moody frumpy Austrian staff and not enough room to swing a kitten let alone a cat. In comparison Air Baltic's connection from Berlin to Riga seemed quite hassle free and enjoyable but was a typical budget expreience. It seems that their habit of cancelling flights is quite regular during the crisis, so don't plan your life around one of their connections!

The website is perhaps the most annoying thing about it, as it throws up hundreds offers at you and is now a very stripped down service where everything else costs an additional price. Booking the flight, seems fraught with the possibility of ordering something you don't want and most people will find themselves clicking back at some point to delete an unwanted service.

Summary: A pretty standard budget affair but they cancel a lot