Baltic News Service
August 11, 2008 Monday 3:05 PM EET

AT LEAST 45 LATVIAN CITIZENS TO FLY ON YEREVAN-RIGA CHARTER FLIGHT

RIGA Aug 11

The charter flight organized by the Latvian Foreign Ministry and
Latvian national carrier Airbaltic to bring home people who want to
leave Georgia from Armenia’s capital Yerevan, is planned for Tuesday
night or early Wednesday morning.

Latvian Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins said at the government’s
meeting on Monday that 54 people have been transported from Georgia’s
Tbilisi to Yerevan, including 45 Latvian citizens as well as citizens
of Lithuania and Estonia. Riekstins said that there might be more
people wishing to return to Riga as some of them might have traveled
to Yerevan on their own.

The Foreign Ministry and Latvian embassy in Georgia are gathering
information about Latvian citizens and residents who want to return to
Latvia, and if there is a larger demand, another charter flight might
be organized.

Airbaltic spokesman Janis Vanags said that the plane will head from
Riga to Yerevan between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., and return back to Riga
late at night or early next morning.

The problem is that Yerevan’s airport usually receives fuel from
Georgia, but at present there are problems with fuel supplies,
therefore the airplane has to be provided for sufficient amount of
fuel.

Vanags repeatedly underscored that Airbaltic is doing everything to
take all people from Georgia to Latvia.

A group of 15 youngsters and three teachers from Latvia, who
participated in an international camp in Georgia, are on the way to
Istanbul in Turkey, and some of them will return to Riga on
Tuesday. Airbaltic has booked eight seats on its Tuesday’s flight and
seven seats on its Thursday’s flight to Riga for the group and looking
for other flights to get people from Istanbul to Riga.

The group of Latvian mountain climbers are still in Georgia as there
had been problems with transport. They are on the way to Batumi in
Georgia to head to Istanbul, said coordinator of the rescue team
Viesturs Silenieks.

The Latvian Foreign Ministry is gathering information about Latvian
citizens and residents who wish to return to Latvia. People planned to
return to Latvia on Tbilisi-Riga flight on Sunday night, but it was
canceled due to security reasons.

Russia has launched war against Georgia on Friday, bringing troops to
Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia. War has been declared in
Georgia, there is news about thousands of people killed and new
bombings performed by Russia.