EU – Baltic States, Investments, Latvia, Transport

Athar Husain Khan and Anrijs Matiss. Riga, 18.02.2015. Photo: sam.gov.lv

Aviation in Europe is also suffering from insufficient infrastructure capacity, and is therefore in need of investment.

Husain Khan said he was pleased with the aviation matters included on the list of priorities of Latvia's Presidency at the Council of the European Union. European airlines play an important role in the EU economy as they foster trade and tourism, and boost employment and growth. Therefore tackling problems in the aviation industry is vitally important for the entire EU, he said.

Matiss and Husain Khan also discussed the critical importance of flight connections with the peripheral regions of Europe. Matiss said that aviation played a major role in the economy and development of strategic infrastructure of Latvia.

AEA is a non-profit industry organization, bringing together 29 major European airlines with a total annual passenger turnover of 415 million passengers. The overall fleet of the AEA members is 2,550 aircraft flying to 600 destinations in 160 countries, performing 10,000 flights a day, and employing 370,000 people. Latvian national airline airBaltic is also a member of the AEA.