airBaltic previously announced a winter base in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, and flights are actually open for booking. Winter bases are unusual for European carriers, but airBaltic follows Norwegian, amongst others, in having one in Gran Canaria (since ended). It’s because the island is highly regarded amongst sun-seeking Scandinavians, and the Canaries are one among the few places in Europe which have warm winters.
airBaltic adds nine routes, joining Riga
airBaltic is not any stranger in Gran Canaria. Using its only aircraft type, the A220-300, it launched the long, 2,770-mile (4,458 km) route from its primary airport of Riga in November last yr. Based on greater aircraft availability within the off-season, nine other routes will join it. As the next map shows, these are mainly in Scandinavia but in addition within the Baltics.
Image: GCMap.
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That is where airBaltic will fly
The ten routes are summarized below, organized by start date:
Las Palma routing |
Start date |
Flights |
Max block time* |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Riga |
Already exists |
Three weekly |
6h 40m |
Began in November 2022, so it simply continues |
Bergen |
December 1st |
Twice-weekly |
5h 25m |
|
Billund |
December 1st |
Twice-weekly |
5h 0m |
|
Oslo Torp |
December 2nd |
Twice-weekly |
5h 35m |
airBaltic has not served the airport before, no less than not in 20 years |
Vilnius |
December 2nd |
Weekly |
6h 10m |
|
Aalborg |
December third |
Twice-weekly |
5h 15m |
airBaltic last served Aalborg (from Riga) in 2015 |
Oslo |
December third |
Weekly |
5h 50m |
|
Copenhagen |
December 4th |
Weekly |
5h 15m |
|
Tampere |
December fifth |
Weekly |
6h 5m |
|
Tallinn |
December seventh |
Weekly |
6h 25m |
|
* Either direction. Includes flight time, taxi time at each ends, and time for brief delays |
That is how flights are timed
Based on examining airBaltic’s schedule, eight of the ten routes will entirely use aircraft/crew in Gran Canaria. The exceptions are Riga and Tampere, although one among Riga’s three flights use aircraft/crew in Spain.
Photo: Adomas Daunoravicius I Shutterstock.
That Tallinn and Vilnius also use Gran Canaria aircraft/crew helps to fill the schedule gaps, as shown below. Nonetheless, they leave on the daybreak (06:30/06:40), which shouldn’t be ideal when on vacation, with passengers having to get up exceptionally early. Indeed, that could be a problem with a base in a vacation destination.
Day |
First A220 schedule |
Second A220 schedule |
---|---|---|
Monday |
Billund (07:40-13:25/14:25-18:25) |
Copenhagen (08:10-14:10/15:00-19:15) |
Tuesday |
Bergen (08:20-14:35/15:25-19:50) |
|
Wednesday |
Torp (08:20-14:40/15:30-20:05) |
Riga (07:25-15:25/16:05-20:35) |
Thursday |
Aalborg (08:20-14:15/15:05-19:20) |
Tallinn (06:30-14:30/15:30-19:55) |
Friday |
Billund (07:40-13:25/14:25-18:25) |
Bergen (08:20-14:35/15:25-19:50) |
Saturday |
Torp (08:20-14:40/15:30-20:05) |
Vilnius (06:40-14:30/15:30-19:40) |
Sunday |
Aalborg (08:20-14:15/15:05-19:20) |
Oslo (08:10-14:35/15:25-20:15) |
Generally speaking, aircraft are scheduled leisurely, directly influenced by the length of haul and being off-season. Each has one roundtrip per day, aside from the second aircraft on Tuesdays, all the time a quieter and fewer demanded day. Flights end by 20:35. It’s unclear if the crew will all the time return to Gran Canaria slightly than being rotated through the mainland airport to which they’re flying.
16 weekly December flights
airBaltic may have 16 weekly flights from Gran Canaria in mid-December (double for each ways). It’ll have just 3.5% of the airport’s international services, in line with the newest OAG data. In contrast, Ryanair plans 77 weekly services, Jet2 37, Condor 36, and Norwegian 31.
What do you make of all of it? Tell us within the comments.