Latvian airline airBaltic is adding a sixth destination in Russia with service between its home hub in Riga and Yekaterinburg.

The new seasonal connection will launch on April 1, operating two times per week using Airbus A220-300 aircraft. Yekaterinburg joins Moscow, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Sochi and Kazan in the carrier’s Russian network.

“We are delighted to add Yekaterinburg as the 14th new destination to our summer 2020 route map,” airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss said.

“Every year more than half of all passengers from Russia are choosing Riga as transfer hub to over 70 destinations in Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS and the Middle East served by airBaltic.

“By launching flights from Riga to Yekaterinburg, we are offering one additional gateway between Europe and Russia and vice versa.”

AirBaltic said that in 2019 it carried 16% more passengers on Russian routes compared with 2018.

According to figures from Sabre Market Intelligence, O&D traffic between Riga and Yekaterinburg totalled 3,546 two-way passengers in the 12 months to 30 June 2019, a rise of 34% compared with the same period a year earlier. AirBaltic will be the only carrier serving the 2,213km route.