airBaltic, the Latvian national Airline has increased its market share from its home base of Riga International Airport to 57% in May 2023. It is a 9% increase from the 48% market share the airline had in its home airport the same month last year.
Martin Gauss, President and CEO airBaltic: “airBaltic continues to be a strong backbone of Riga International Airport, and we are glad to have once again secured our position as the largest airline operating from Riga with now a significant market share of 57%. We continue to be committed to our home base in the capital of Latvia, being the main connectivity provider to and from the Baltic region.”
“With the largest-ever number of operated routes in a summer season yet, every month we are seeing the passenger demand gradually increasing. It is reflected accordingly in our passenger numbers. During the last month, we carried 437 000 passengers or by 53% more than during the same period last year, and we expect a similar trend of gradually increasing passenger demand continuing all throughout the summer,” Martin Gauss added.
As reported previously, this summer season, airBaltic has launched direct flights to a record-high 20 new destinations – including 10 from Riga. The airline has recently begun connecting Riga with Baku (Azerbaijan), Belgrade (Serbia), Bilbao (Spain), Bucharest (Romania), Burgas (Bulgaria), Hannover (Germany), Istanbul (Turkey), Porto (Portugal), Tivat (Montenegro) and Yerevan (Armenia).
AI is the way forward for airBaltic.
Gauss said: “By implementing AI capabilities, airBaltic aims to provide a seamless customer experience and improve efficiency for our employees. The tools, described below, not only contribute to the company's growth, but also could aim to establish new industry standards. It is an important condition for us that the airline remains at the forefront of innovative technologies, continuously testing and implementing new and diverse AI-driven solutions.”
The most recent and visible use of AI for airBaltic can be observed at the AI-generated upcoming sales campaign Planies Crazy Deals. It marks the first time the airline has incorporated AI-generated images into marketing materials. The campaign features a cartoon plane character from airBaltic's NFT collection Planies. To create images for the campaign, airBaltic has used Microsoft Bing Image Creator, which is powered by an advanced version of the DALL∙E model, developed by OpenAI. This advanced technology allows to showcase travel destinations with one-of-a-kind and captivating AI-generated images.
In software development, the airline takes advantage of GitHub Copilot, which helps developers in writing code more efficiently. By offering context-aware code completions, GitHub Copilot increases developers' productivity and saves more time.
In addition, airBaltic has built an in-house chatbot SkyTalker, designed to analyze extensive documentation. The tools offers employees clear and accurate answers to their questions, enhancing customer service and improving internal processes.
