In recent years, many airlines have separated from their own passenger handling and outsourced it to third-party providers. The Latvian Air Baltic is now going the opposite way and will be handling passengers with its own staff. A service provider had been hired for this for almost 20 years.

“In the past 18 years, passenger handling has been outsourced. Now, during the crisis, Air Baltic is successfully redesigning its products and services to focus on delivering the core brand values, including a strong focus on all passenger touchpoints. Starting next year, passengers will meet Air Baltic employees when checking in at Riga Airport and when boarding the aircraft in order to ensure seamless customer service, ”explains company boss Martin Gauss.

What is also remarkable about the Latvian airline's new path is that the carrier describes it as part of the savings program. In cases in which other airlines went exactly the opposite way, this was always justified by the fact that passenger handling by external staff would be cheaper.

RIX Ground Handling will be working on the ramp for Air Baltic. A corresponding five-year contract has been signed. Passenger handling, on the other hand, will now be carried out by the Latvian airline's own personnel.