Today, January 29, 2026, Latvian airline airBaltic celebrates the 30th anniversary of its route between Riga, Latvia, and Vilnius, Lithuania.
This marked the airline’s first nonstop service linking the two Baltic capitals, offering customers fast, seamless, and reliable connectivity between Latvia and Lithuania, while also providing passengers from Lithuania with access to a wide range of destinations across airBaltic’s route network in Europe and beyond via RIX Riga Airport.
Mantas Vrubliauskas, VP Network Management at airBaltic: “Over the past three decades, our flights between the two largest cities in the Baltics have provided customers with convenient and reliable travel options for both business and leisure.
“Vilnius is also one of our home cities, and this year we will expand our presence there by launching new direct destinations and increasing frequencies on various existing routes, therefore providing our customers with more travel options.
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our long-term partners, RIX Riga Airport and Lithuanian Airports, for their continued cooperation and support of airBaltic’s growth.”
Laila Odiņa, CEO of RIX Riga Airport: “Connectivity of the Baltic region has always been one of Riga Airport’s key priorities.
“For 30 years, airBaltic’s reliable Riga-Vilnius route has significantly contributed to regional mobility and helped build a dynamic air traffic network that ensures convenient and dependable travel for both people and businesses.
“Riga Airport will continue to strengthen this role by offering Baltic passengers increasingly broad access to essential business, transit, and leisure destinations.”
Simonas Bartkus, CEO of Lithuanian Airports: “Today we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first airBaltic flight on the Vilnius-Riga route.
“This route opened new opportunities for travellers and businesses, strengthened air connectivity between Lithuania and the entire region, and became an important gateway for integration into the international aviation network.
“It is especially gratifying that today airBaltic operates daily flights between Vilnius and Riga, as well as between Palanga and Riga, while flights on the Kaunas-Riga route will return in March – bringing Lithuania and Latvia even closer and offering travellers even more convenient onward connections.”
Currently, airBaltic operates up to four daily flights between Riga and Vilnius, providing vital connectivity for both business and leisure travellers, while also offering seamless transit through the Latvian capital to over 80 destinations across Europe and beyond.
This was the airline’s third direct destination, following the launch of direct flights from Riga to Stockholm, Sweden, and Helsinki, Finland, in October 1995.
