Initial bookings for the new Air Baltic Riga-Malta service are encouraging, the airline's vice president said today.

The service, announced in December, was formally launched this morning in the presence of Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella and senior airline officials.

Mr Vella said this was an excellent opportunity to attract tourists from new markets, and it also offered a new destination for Maltese travellers.

The airline's vice-president, Janis Vanangs, described Air Baltic as a mid-range airline, and said that while it was a gateway to Latvia, it also offered excellent connections to other destinations in Scandinavia and Russia.

Flights will depart Riga on Saturdays and Malta on Sundays.

Mr Vanangs said initial bookings were very positive.

The airline in connection with the Malta Tourism Authority has brought over several Latvian journalists who are being shown around Malta.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.