Air India and airBaltic enhance partnership, to begin codesharing on routes to India

Air India has announced that the airline has enhanced its partnership with airBaltic, with the two airlines now codesharing on routes from Europe to India, enabling passengers to reach either Riga, Latvia, or Indian cities, with a single stop at Air India’s European gateways.

On December 30, 2025, Air India announced that it began placing its AI designator code on airBaltic-operated flights from Riga Airport (RIX) to eight European airports, which are also served by the Indian airline.

This includes Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), Copenhagen Airport (CPH), Frankfurt Airport (FRA), London Gatwick Airport (LGW), Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), Vienna Airport (VIE), and Zurich Airport (ZRH). In addition to the eight airports where both carriers have a presence, Air India also flies to Birmingham Airport (BHX) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR).

The Indian airline pointed out that the new codeshare agreement will enable its customers “to travel between India and Riga via any of these European points with a single Air India ticket including flight connections to Riga bearing the ‘AI’ designator code.”

At the same time, while airBaltic has not yet announced the codeshare agreement, its booking engine showed that customers can, for example, book one-stop flights from RIX via one of the eight airports to Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL). The Latvian carrier’s website already lists Air India as a codeshare partner.

In addition to the codeshare agreement underpinned by RIX, the two airlines have an interline partnership when it comes to flights originating or landing at Vilnius Airport (VNO) or Tallinn Airport (TLL).

The main difference between a codeshare and an interline flight is that the former means that one airline “operates the flight and [the] other markets this flight and issues tickets for it as if they were operating the flight themselves,” while the latter “is a form of mutual acceptance of travel documentation and baggage for transportation,” giving the right for an airline to issue tickets on the flights of another carrier, according to airBaltic.

For passengers originating at the three main airports across the Baltic States, the new codeshare agreement will enable even better connections to destinations in Asia and beyond.

These connections had already improved when flydubai launched direct flights from VNO and RIX to Dubai International Airport (DXB), and while the airline’s executives noted that it primarily serves point-to-point flights, around 30% of flydubai’s customers grab onward connections, including on Emirates itineraries.

Around 15% of passengers flying from VNO and RIX should continue their journeys from DXB to Japan or Australia, Jeyhun Efendi, the Divisional Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations and E-commerce at flydubai, previously said.

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At the same time, airBaltic’s codeshare agreement with Air India is unsurprising. In addition to the rising popularity of India as a destination and more Indian nationals moving to the Baltic States, airBaltic has seemingly aligned itself closer with Star Alliance, especially once Lufthansa Group finalized its 10% stake in the Latvian carrier in August.

Still, the Latvian airline remains independent, having codeshare agreements with airlines that are part of other alliances, including, for example, Delta Air Lines or British Airways.