Airport, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Transport

According to Piterniece, with the government's help Finnair will be able to get rid of its greatest competitor in the region.

If so, the people of Latvia will only be able to fly to Helsinki, and "we may forget about Riga as a regional flight hub," said Piterniece.

"The story about the government's attitude to airBaltic and the motives for its actions are hard to misinterpret – attacks on the brands, Economy Minister Artis Kampars' sabotage this past June, the government putting off taking a decision on airBaltic, hiring of a financial consulting company, finding out the commercial secrets of airBaltic – and now the proposal to establish a new airline: practically all these actions show that there was a goal to establish a competitor for airBaltic," stresses Piterniece.

BAS urges the government to take a clear decision on airBaltic and not get involved in such risky undertakings as the establishment of a new airline, writes LETA.

BAS once again confirms its preparedness to support airBaltic and invest money into the airline's development, said Piterniece.

Prudentia, the financial consultant hired by the government, should stop the slanderous and damaging rhetoric. The government, as an airBaltic shareholder, must stop the activities that are damaging to the airline, said Piterniece.

According to Piterniece, if the government does not want to invest money into airBaltic, it should allow BAS to do this. And if the state is uninterested in airBaltic, the government should sell its shares to BAS.