SAS and Baltic International seal Latvian airline deal

SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINE System (SAS) and Baltic International USA (BIUSA) are to press ahead with their joint-venture airline in Latvia.

BIUSA says, that the pair are immediately forming a joint-venture company, as the first step in setting up a carrier, which is expected to start operations in the second half of April.

The proposed airline will be owned, by BIUSA, SAS, Scandinavian financial institutions and the Latvian Government, which also owns 51% of BIUSA.

SAS will provide four early-model McDonnell Douglas DC-9-21s, which will need hushkitting to make them, Stage 3-compatible. The aircraft are the source of resentment at displaced Latvian carrier Latavio, where one official describes the move as the "dumping" of SAS' aging aircraft.

BIUSA says that it hopes the new carrier will initially serve Copenhagen, Helsinki, Kiev, London, Minsk, Moscow, Stockholm, St Petersburg and Warsaw, from Riga.

Source: Flight International