OREANDA-NEWS. February 02, 2011. airBaltic Training has been approved by International Air Transport Association (IATA) as the only IATA Training and Development Institute (ITDI) Regional Training Center in the European Union.

Bertolt Flick, President and CEO of airBaltic: “airBaltic Training has been approved as the EU’s only IATA Regional Training Centre. We can now offer a conveniently located facility providing IATA Training Courses to customers in Central, Eastern and Northern Europe.”

Guido Gianasso, Senior Vice President at IATA: “IATA is a worldwide leader in providing aviation training, and we are delighted to announce this exciting new partnership with airBaltic, which substantially increases our range of services to European clients.”

The mission of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is to represent, lead, and serve the airline industry, and its members comprise some 230 airlines in more than 150 countries worldwide. For the last sixty years, IATA has developed the standards that have made aviation one of the most dynamic and vital industries in the world today.

In order to uphold and continuously improve these standards, IATA has established a network of Regional Training Centers to help train the thousands of aviation employees who sustain the global industry. The approval of Riga-based airBaltic Training as the IATA Regional Training Center followed a lengthy audit process of the facilities, training organization, and business plan for future development, in order to make sure IATA’s high standards are met. The focus area for this IATA Regional Training Centre is not only the Baltic states, but also Finland, Sweden, Poland, and Slovakia. airBaltic Training will guarantee classrooms and training facilities, transportation, hotel accommodations, and visa services for both instructors and students.

airBaltic serves 80 destinations from its home base at Riga, Latvia. From every one of these, airBaltic offers convenient connections via North Hub Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS and the Middle East.