Gautam Kumar Mishra, New Delhi. After signing an agreement with Singapore Airlines' low cost company Scoot for its presence in Asia Pacific countries, Air India has now started trying to establish its foothold in the Baltic countries. As part of the effort, Air India has announced a new codeshare partnership with Latvia's flag carrier airline airBaltic.
This agreement will make it more convenient for Air India customers to reach the Baltic region. This new partnership will bring the beautiful destinations of the Baltic countries – like the historical heritage of Riga, the medieval architecture of Tallin and the vibrant culture of Vilnius – closer to Indian travelers, while promoting trade and tourism.
Under the codeshare, Air India has started deploying its AI code on flights operated by airBaltic. These flights are from Latvia's capital Riga to European cities, including Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Milan Malpensa, Vienna, Zurich and London Gatwick. This will enable Air India passengers to travel from India to Riga via these European cities on a single Air India ticket, with connecting flights to Riga also with AI code.
Air India's interline partnership with airBaltic will also give passengers access to the capital of Estonia, Stalin, and Vilnius, Lithuania, through select European gateways, covering the entire Baltic region.
Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, said, “This expanded partnership with airBaltic reflects Air India’s commitment to provide seamless connectivity to our customers globally. Latvia and the entire Baltic region are fast-growing travel markets, but before it was not so convenient for our customers to get there. Now with airBaltic it has become easier.
Air India operates direct flights from Delhi to Amsterdam (7 flights weekly), Paris (14), Frankfurt (12), Copenhagen (4), Milan (6), Vienna (4), Zurich (4); Mumbai to Frankfurt (5); And operates flights from Amritsar and Ahmedabad to London Gatwick (3 flights weekly from both). Since privatization in 2022, Air India has significantly expanded its global partnerships.
The airline currently has 24 codeshare and around 100 interline agreements with major airlines across the world, giving its customers seamless access to over 800 destinations. These codeshare flights are available for booking through both the airlines' booking channels and travel agents around the world.
What is a codeshare agreement?
A codeshare agreement is a commercial partnership between two or more airlines, in which one airline assigns its flight code (such as Air India's AI) to a flight operated by the other airline. This makes passengers think that they are flying the entire journey with one airline, when in reality some parts are covered by flights from another airline.
Understand this from the agreement between Air India and AirBaltic. airBaltic operates flights from Riga to Paris. Air India assigns its code AI to this flight (e.g. flight number AI1234). Travelers now fly from Delhi to Paris on an Air India flight, then from Paris to Riga on AI1234 (which is actually run by airBaltic).
All on one ticket. For passengers, the advantage is one ticket, one booking, one check-in (luggage directly to the final destination), easy connections. This is important for airlines because without starting new flights the network expands and attracts more passengers. Small or less accessible cities become easily accessible.