Latvia’s Transport Minister, Kaspars Briskens, has no intention to resign despite criticism of his communication, LSM reports. Earlier, President Edgars Rinkevics and Prime Minister Evika Silina criticised the minister’s messaging on the future of the country’s national air carrier, airBaltic, and the Rail Baltica railway project. Speaking after a meeting with Briskens, Rinkevics said that…
The Latvian state is negotiating with a well-known strategic investor on the possible acquisition of a 10% stake in the country’s national air carrier, airBaltic, according to LTV’s information, LSM reports. Klavs Vasks, chairman of airBaltic’s supervisory board, confirmed that the unnamed strategic investor could acquire a minority stake in the company. In 2023, Prudentia…
Traffic issues in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, mirror challenges faced by cities in Western Europe in the 1970s, primarily due to overdependence on cars, ERR reports. Suburban sprawl, inadequate public transportation, and lack of infrastructure for alternative transport modes have increased reliance on cars for daily commutes, leading to traffic congestion and reduced accessibility. Despite…
Baltic transport ministers called for increased EU funding for strategic transport infrastructure projects, The Baltic Times reports. The ministers insisted that the Connecting Europe Facility has to remain one of the key instruments in the EU’s next multiannual financial framwork as of 2028, with sufficient funding for cross-border transport, energy, and electronic communications projects. They…
Estonia’s air quality can be rated “good” overall, according to the Ministry of Climate, ERR reports. Most pollution in Estonia comes from vehicle exhaust fumes, improper use of heating stoves, and similar sources. A study conducted by the University of Tartu in 2022 showed that air pollution causes around 1,200 premature deaths annually in Estonia,…
The Icelandic low-cost air carrier, Fly Play (PLAY), will increase the frequency of flights between Reykjavik and the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, to twice a week as of the middle of May 2025, Lithuania’s state-owned airport operator, Lietuvos Oro Uostai (LTOU), announced, BNS reports. Currently, the company flies the route once a week. CEO Einar Örn…
Latvia’s Riga International Airport (RIX) served a total of 4.6 million passengers in the first eight months of 2024, which was 8% more than in the same period of 2023, LSM reports. The number of flights to and from Riga totalled 41,500. In August 2024 alone, the airport served 740,000 passengers, which was up 8%…
Lithuania seeks to attract more flights to the seaside resort of Palanga, BNS reports. The Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Economy, and the Klaipeda Region Association (AKR) have agreed to raise public funds for increasing traffic at Palanga International Airport (POU). AKR unites the seven municipalities in the Klaipeda county. The goal is to…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has supported in first reading amendments that would ban vehicles with Belarusian licence plates in the country, LSM reports. Under the proposed amendments, vehicles registered in Belarus would have to be transferred out of the country or reregistered in Latvia by 31 October 2024 at the latest. Otherwise, the vehicle…