Air Lituanica (Vilnius International (VNO)) is a new Lithuanian niche carrier that is planning to begin flights to Brussels National Zaventem (BRU), Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) and Berlin from July 1. Speaking at the Routes Europe conference, Chief Commercial Officer, Simonas Bartkus, said flights will begin once its first EMB-170 leased from Estonian Air (OV, Tallinn Ülemiste (TLL))) and ex-TRIP Linhas Aéreas (T4, Campinas Viracopos (VCP)) EMB-175 (c/n 17000017) (from lessor ECC Leasing) are delivered, with plans to add Munich Franz Josef Strauss International (MUC), Prague Vaclav Havel Ruzyne (PRG) and Moscow Sheremetyevo International (SVO) thereafter. In the long term, Air Lituanica, using a fleet of 5 aircraft, plans to connecting Vilnius International (VNO) with points in western Europe, Scandinavia, Russia and the CIS with small jets on high frequency rotations and with a two-class product to attract corporate traffic. Potential plans may include using smaller aircraft orders to serve thin business routes, especially to Scandinavia, Lithuania’s biggest trading partner. Bartkus said the airline is keen to partner airlines not currently represented in Lithuania’s market, such as Air France (AF, Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG)), Air Berlin (AB, Berlin Tegel (TXL)), CSA Czech Airlines (OK, Prague Vaclav Havel Ruzyne (PRG)) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)) while Air Lituanica’s shareholders are likely to be open to the idea of investment from a bigger partner in the carrier in future.

Nordic Air Sweden (Umeå (UME)) has acquired JE Time Sweden (Stockholm Arlanda (ARN)), a local air taxi founded in 2010, which currently operates with a Piper PA-31 Navajo. JE Time will be rebranded as Nordic Air Sweden and its AOC used to launch own operations. Among Nordic Air Sweden's future plans is the lease of an Airbus A320-200 for charter flights this summer. It already launched scheduled services on March 28 as a virtual carrier chartering an EMB-170 from Estonian Air (OV, Tallinn Ülemiste (TLL)) offering flights from Arvidsjaur (AJR) via Skellefteå (SFT) and Karlstad (KSD) to London Stansted (STN) and via Skellefteå to Copenhagen Kastrup (CPH). The carrier also offers a weekly service from Copenhagen onwards to Skopje Alexander the Great (SKP) and Beirut Rafic Hariri International (BEY) and has plans to add Frankfurt International (FRA) and Stockholm Västerås (VST) to its network by summer.

Estonian Air (OV, Tallinn Ülemiste (TLL)) will operate one of its four EMB-170s on behalf of start-up Nordic Air Sweden (Umeå (UME)) on a wet-lease basis. The aircraft has been based at Arvidsjaur (AJR) and operates from there via Skellefteå (SFT) to Copenhagen Kastrup (CPH) and London Stansted (STN). Nordic Air Sweden also offers a weekly service from Copenhagen via Skopje Alexander the Great (SKP) to Beirut Rafic Hariri International (BEY).

Estonian Air (OV, Tallinn Ülemiste (TLL)) has been given a deadline of April 18 by when its management and board of directors have to submit a final version of a restructuring plan to the Estonian government, Estonian Air’s main shareholder. According to statements by Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip in parliament, the plan is required to request approval from the European Commission to assist the financially struggling regional carrier with another 37 million EUR of capital.

Estonian Air (OV, Tallinn Ülemiste (TLL)) likely faces additional pressure after the European Commission has announced on February 20 that it would review the capital increases by the Estonian government totalling 65.5 million EUR between 2009 and 2012. According to a report by Bloomberg, the European Commission had not been notified about three capital injections for the national carrier and will be reviewing these transactions and the sale of Estonian Air's ground handling division to Tallinn Ülemiste (TLL) airport which is also government owned. The European Commission is currently also reviewing similar transactions by Slovenia and Latvia to support Adria Airways (JP, Ljubljana Joze Pucnik (LJU)) and Air Baltic (BT, Riga International (RIX)) to evaluate whether or not they would be considered illegal state aid under EU legislation.