airBaltic Reviews 899

I used this company for the first and last time. My elderly mother was flying alone. They first extorted 100€ from her in Spain, but we didn’t give it to her. Then they took 30€ from my elderly mother in exchange in Riga, saying that her visa had expired!!! Although it wasn’t. Her visa was until 19.04, and today it’s only 17.04. They’re scammers.

Unfortunately mainly have bad experiences with this airline: flights either delayed, moved or bad customer service.

Last 2 occasions:
-Booked flights and train tickets to get to the airport. Airbaltic changed both flights on both directions by 50 mins so that our train tickets and plans go to waste. Contacted the customer support but no any solution or offer of goodwill, it is what it is.

-Was traveling to Barcelona with a connecting flight (both flights with Airbaltic) with family (4 people) including 72 y.o. First flight was delayed significantly, luckily the second flight was waiting, however my 72 y.o. grandmother had to run to the gate and no assistance was given, or they didnt even try to move her closer to the exit so she has more time to get to the gate. We were nearly last ones out (were at the end of the plane), and barely missed the second flight. My grandmother was feeling poorly the whole day after this. The staff wouldn't even offer water when they see the person is unwell after the situation caused by the airline.

In both cases no apologies, nothing.

They are a great airline until they are not. We have 2 months to go until my mum's flight from Riga to Rome, and they change the flight times to depart 8 hours earlier than originally booked. You then have 3 options: rebook for another date, get a refund or accept the changes.
Now the travel to airport has been prebooked for that time, and it is not refundable. If you book to fly out the next day, you also now need to pay for an additional night in Rome, which they will not cover. If we now accept the changes, and book her the next airport transfer, who is to say that it won't change again! Last time we used them they changed flights 3 times! Previous times, at least, the changes were only half an hour here and there, but this change is significant and there is absolutely no support offered for it. I never had an airline booked change flight times as much as airbaltic does, it's really frustrating. If they cannot schedule the times in advance, then don't sell your tickets in advance!

Fantastic service, including Starlink.

I guess the good reviews do not reach trustpilot. I fly always with them for years. Excellent planes, much more leg room than other companies. If there is an issue which results in a flight cancellation they are good and fast with rerouting, within 10minutes after the announcement of cancellation we've got sms with alternative route and information about new flights. I give them 5/5 stars!

This review is based off other reviews! Never have I encountered any problems with staff, luggage, flights, departure, boarding any thing. After reading these reviews, I can honestly tell that most if these people would give 1 star if someone would look at them strangely. Sadly, sometimes it’s hard to cater to everyones needs, but as far as AirBaltic goes, all my needs are met.

21st of February I flew with Air Baltic (BT619) from Riga to Amsterdam.

The announcement in the plane tells me that Air Baltic crew is very happy to serve me and make my flight as pleasant and safe as possible. What a pitty that these are just empty meaningless words!

Due to a medical condition I sometimes can have a problem to keep myself warm. Unfortunately this happened to me on the day of this flight. When boarding I asked the crew if it was possible to give me a blanket. Their answer: "No sir, not for economy". During the flight I was so cold that my wife asked it once again. The short, not very polite answer was: "NO" and she walked away

At the end of the flight I approached the stewardess (Klinta) and shared my disappointment with their attitude. Her answer: Other passengers were warm enough, so we could not heat the plane up more just for you. Another good example how this person has no desire to understand the passenger. I am not asking to heat the plane up. I will understand it when they don't have a blanket. It is the attitude and communication that makes the difference.

Most companies can fly me from A to B. What makes the difference between two companies? It is their willingness to do better. I did not have a pleasant or even safe flight due to how I felt. If a company treats you like this with such a small request, then I have no confidence if you would need them for something else.

Terrible customer service. Choose a different airline for your flight. They were already late, yet instead of boarding passengers quickly, they delayed the flight even more by weighing every bag. They then started charging for every additional kilo you had.

This company delayed our flight by 5 hours on Christmas Eve and refused any compensation after. We are eligible for compensation for over 4 hours delay by European legislation, but they simply refuse because they know its too difficult and expensive to take them to court by an individual, therefore they refuse any compensation which they actually are required to pay by law. Greedy and unprofessional company!

I was supposed to arrive in Riga at 0600 on August 12th with airBaltic however due to overbooking we were (unlawfully, as we're both disabled) denied boarding. We were then put on a later flight which arrived at 1700 in Riga, connecting in Budapest. This meant we missed our onward connection. airBaltic gave us none of the assistance to rebook our connection or accommodation and as far as their staff were concerned we could have been wandering the streets of Riga with nowhere to stay. They subsequently refused to reimburse the costs we incurred

Disgraceful treatment

My wife and I were due to fly Belgrade to Riga and we were denied boarding by AirBaltic as the flight was overbooked. We were then put on another flight connecting in Budapest this meant we arrived 11 hours later and missed our connection. AirBaltic should have by law and their own customer service commitment assisted us to rebook our onward travel and provided us with accommodation, instead their staff told us to arrange it ourselves and claim it back. They then refused to reimburse us even after I highlighted their legal obligations

AirBaltic then advised me that if I was unhappy with the decision to contact aviation dispute resolution in the UK who it turns out don't have jurisdiction in this case and I think AirBaltic did this to annoy me

If an airline is willing to break rules like this, what other rules are they willing to break? Safety standards maybe?

AirBaltic’s so-called “apologies” for customer claims are nothing but empty words. They respond just to check a box, not to actually solve problems or improve their service. Their actions speak louder than their meaningless “sorry.”

The worst service is in Riga Airport!

We flew from Amsterdam with a connection in Riga, where every passenger was forced to recheck their hand baggage. Then came the real scam—everyone was forced to pay extra fees!

We had bought small gifts at Amsterdam Airport, which were perfectly fine to bring on board. But in Riga? Suddenly, we were told that every single item had to be weighed again. The total limit for both cabin bag AND personal item (yes, even a small bag) was 8 kg. Even 300 grams over? Pay up! And no, you can’t just carry your small purchase separately in your hands—they even weigh what’s in your pockets!

So, don’t believe the lies and nonsense from AirBaltic’s CEO, Martin Gauss, when he writes in the magazine about “caring for service and customers.” Their only concern is squeezing every last euro out of passengers.

This is a scam, plain and simple!

If you fly with airBaltic, I hope you don't have any issues, as theirs is some of the worst customer service I've ever come across. Our flight had an unscheduled diversion due to a weather event - of course, this is out of anyone's control and these things can happen. However, we've been left almost €500 out of pocket as a result, and the customer service has been so frustrating I could scream.

We were given little support on the plane when the diversion happened, but again, I appreciate that the circumstances were unusual and the staff on board seemed not to know how to advise the passengers so it was a difficult situation for them. We were told, however, that we were entitled to a hotel for the night and would be flown home the next day, but that we'd need to call the main airBaltic phone number to arrange the accommodation and replacement flight. After leaving the plane, we discovered that the phone line had been closed for the evening, so we had to sort our own accommodation. When I contacted airBaltic after the event to claim transport, accommodation and food costs, they refused to reimburse the full amount in cash (yet, they were willing to do so in vouchers). So after being stranded with no support, we find that we're now not being reimbursed for the full costs we had to pay.

Furthermore, the person sorting out this compensation was rude, spectacularly unhelpful and kept asking for information by email that neither myself nor my bank understood, after I'd already given her the details she'd originally asked for to make an international payment. She ignored my request for a phone number to call her on to resolve the issue and ignored my request to escalate it to her manager, simply copying and pasting the same nonsensical replies over and over.

Eventually, she acknowledged that she actually could make the payment with the information I'd already given her in the first place. I've received it today, and it's inexplicably over €100 less than the amount I was forced to accept (which was already €100 less than the associated outgoings). All in all it was an awful experience, I advise that you don't travel with airBaltic if you can help it.

Have been flying all life, no problems ever encountered with them. Always choose them when i can.

Reply to airBaltic:
Yes I may had some overweight, but been humiliated and threatening by a staff member when repacking is not acceptable - I will still choose another airline.

My Review:
The review of a Humiliating and unprofessional experience with AirBaltic Riga Airport staff:
If you want to be humiliated by staff laughing at you, embarrassed, and even threatened with ticket cancellation while desperately trying to repack 4kg of supposed "overweight" luggage—then book an evening flight from Riga Airport with AirBaltic.
I was shocked by my recent experience 06 FEB 2025 at Riga Airport with the AirBaltic check-in staff (not all, but a select few (8 PAX) with a terrible attitude—not only in my case, but in several others I have witnessed). The whole situation was led by a male "drama queen" with a name starting with "A....," who seemed to take pleasure in intimidating, threatening, and creating unnecessary conflict with passengers—relishing his so-called authority. However, his efforts to assert dominance often fell flat.
This was the first time I personally experienced such treatment, but I have seen multiple similar incidents on evening flights from Riga. AirBaltic, you have a serious problem with your evening check-in staff at Riga Airport!
For context, I have taken 28 flights from Riga Airport with AirBaltic in the last eight months. To my surprise, I was told I had 4kg overweight luggage—something that seemed suspicious since other scales did not indicate any excess weight. Whether this was a genuine issue or an attempt to extract more money, I can't say for certain.
Before repacking, I want to clarify that AirBaltic has already received a detailed SITREP (situation report) from me, and this review is specifically about the Riga Airport AirBaltic staff, not the airline as a whole.
If you’re flying from Riga in the evening, be prepared for an unpleasant check-in experience I would choose another airline example Norwegian Airline. I know AirBaltic and they will not take this issue seriously and addresses the behaviour of certain staff members. But I hope that you choose another airline because I am.

Lentoyhtiö laittomasti vaihtoi määränpäätäni ja kieltäytyi maksamasta kuluja lentolipussa merkittyyn päämäärään matkustamisesta. Vältä tätä lentoyhtiötä viimeiseen asti.

Air Baltic tries to alter the law by trusting they will not be challenged by their customers. They write here that they wouldn't do it but it's just a lie. Numerous bad review are the proof of that. There is a pending lawsuit against the airline. Let's see how far they are willing to go for a short term saving of 100 eur by their illegal activity. For sure in long term they'll loose a lot of customers and hopefully will eventually go bankrupt.

i have been flying with Air Baltic quite a lot recent years and they are mostly on time, planes are clean/newish and personnel is always nice. The baggage policy is a bit annoying

Flying with AirBaltic has become increasingly disappointing due to their constant delays and dismissive attitude toward customers. Our latest experience was a clear example of how poorly the company treats its passengers.

A flight to Athens was delayed by exactly 3 hours, causing the traveler to miss a ferry connection and incur extra costs for a hotel. When requesting compensation, AirBaltic claimed that 7 minutes of the delay was due to “extraordinary circumstances” and excluded those from the total, conveniently reducing the delay time below the 3-hour threshold for compensation. This technical loophole, based on an EU court ruling they cited, feels exploitative and unfair.

AirBaltic’s response included a long explanation about their inability to compensate, citing external circumstances and technicalities. While regulations are important, their lack of empathy and repeated delays suggest that customer satisfaction is not their priority. Almost every flight we’ve taken with AirBaltic has been delayed, and their approach to handling issues is neither transparent nor professional.

It’s become increasingly impossible to plan travel with AirBaltic, and their dismissive attitude only adds to the frustration. The case of the 7 minutes perfectly illustrates how they prioritize avoiding responsibility over addressing customer concerns.

Don’t fly with them! They forced me to pays 75 euro saying that the luggage was too big. The size was correct and never had any issues, they challenged all the people in the plane with hand luggages, it seems that need money and decided that is the good way to collect them! Terrible, never take it again!

It's a shame I cannot recommend this airline for the following reasons

I was due to fly from Belgrade to Riga with AirBaltic in August 2024 with my partner. We are both disabled, were wearing our sunflower lanyards and additionally I was walking with a stick

As we were waiting to board we were called out of line and told that due to overbooking we would not be able to board the flight. I told the staff that we had onward connections booked and we would miss the connections bvecause of this, I also informed them that we're both disabled and we were still denied boarding. This is a breach of the EU261/2004 Article 11 which basically states that disabled persons must be given priority to board over non-disabled passengers. We were then booked onto another flight with a connection in Buidapest to arrive in Riga around 1700 instead of 0600.

When I again mentioned the issue of our onward connection we were told that the staff in Riga would help us with this. We were then put on the flight via Budapest

When we arrived in Budapest we requested assistance from the Air Baltic staff we were told to take care of ourselves.

At this stage it was obvious we would have to probably stay overnight in Riga and travel onwards the next day to Tallinn. This meant we had to cut Vilnius out of our itinerary and lose a day of our holiday. When we arrived in Riga we were given EU261 compensation of EUR250 for the denied boarding and when I asked for help with the accommodation and the onward travel we were told to book it ourselves and claim it back AirBaltic

When I tried to claim this back from Air Baltic I was then told that because they had paid us the EUR 250 that they weren't obliged to repay our expenses.

When I replied that under EU261/2004 Article 9 the Airline was obliged to provide Accommodation where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary in addition the Airline was obliged to offer transport between the accommodation and support in the way of telephone calls, emails etc

None of this was offered - The only assistance we received was a meal at Belgrade Airport. As far as the Air Baltic staff cared my partner and I could have been wandering the streets of Riga overnight

I replied to Air Baltic quoting the legislation that they had breached and they haven't replied

I wrote to Air Baltic at their Head Office in Riga and they haven't replied (And the letter was received)

In addition to breaching the legislation they have also rendered their customer care committment null and void. Said committment reads 'If you are involuntarily denied boarding and have complied with our check-in and other applicable rules, we will give you a written statement that describes your rights. We will also rebook you to next fastest connection, offer refreshments, meal, hotel and transportation (if necessary) as well as pay compensation as prescribed by the Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council.'

Shame on you AirBaltic