On Wednesday Delta Air Lines and the Latvian national airline airBalticannounced the launch of their codeshare relationship effective Nov. 22. With unprecedented demand for travel across the Atlantic this year, Delta will add its DL* code to airBaltic flights, providing customers with convenient connections and more flexible booking and ticketing options between North America and Latvia.

“Enhanced partnerships are integral to our long-term strategy to better connect Delta customers to more of the world,” said Alain Bellemare, President - International at Delta. “Working closely with airBaltic will further strengthen Delta’s connection to this vibrant European region and offer consumers in the Baltics unrivalled access to destinations across the United States.”

This new codeshare agreement will allow Deltato place its code on 20 airBaltic-operated routes to three of the Latvian carrier’s leading cities, including Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius.

“This marks a historic achievement for airBaltic and Latvia, as we embark on expanding our network across the Atlantic Ocean,” said Martin Gauss, President and CEO of airBaltic. “The collaboration with Delta, known for its expansive network and international cooperation infrastructure, holds tremendous opportunities. It will not only attract new passengers to airBaltic, but also elevate the Baltics’ global visibility and connectivity.”

The opportunity to codeshare follows the Latvian Civil Aviation Association obtaining a Category 1 rating from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s International Aviation Safety Assessment program. Under the IASA program, the FAA determines whether another country’s oversight of its air carriers that operate, or seek to operate, into the United States or codeshare with a U.S. air carrier, complies with safety standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

AirBaltic operates more than 100 routes from Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius and Tampere, offering connections to a wide range of destinations in the airline's route network in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus region. A complete schedule of airBaltic flights and tickets is available on the company's homepage at www.airbaltic.com.