Air Baltic files for Chapter 11 protection in New York, operations to continue

Air Baltic submitted a Chapter 11 filing to a New York court as part of its effort to restructure financially troubled operations. The airline assured customers that scheduled services will proceed as planned and existing bookings remain honored. It also confirmed that its customer-service centre will keep operating. The carrier, headquartered in Riga and majority-owned by the Latvian state, serves several Norwegian cities including Oslo, Bergen and Stavanger. The move follows remarks by Latvian officials in August describing the airline’s finances as “very serious.”