UK Chancellor commits £2 billion to make the country a “defence industrial superpower”
Rachel Reeves announced port upgrades, protected budgets for innovation and investment in novel technologies.
airBaltic is to launch flights from Riga to Umeå in Sweden and between Vilnius and London.
The start date for the former is 29 March, with the latter’s commencement still to be confirmed.
Tero Taskila, the airline’s chief commercial officer commented, “airBaltic will become the first airline in history to link Umeå and Riga – two cities that have been nominated to become Europe’s cultural capitals in 2014. airBaltic made a similar step already at the end of last year when the link between two European Capitals of Culture 2011 Turku and Tallinn was established.
“airBaltic has worked hard to expand its list of destinations in Scandinavia. We want to allow people from the region to visit Latvia or to use Riga as a transit airport for flights to destinations such as Barcelona, Berlin, Zurich, Venice, Vienna, Moscow, Kaliningrad, and many others. Umeå is a lovely destination, and the new airBaltic route will surely attract increasing numbers of travellers from Western Europe, the Mediterranean and the CIS.”
Until 30 May, airBaltic will fly from Riga to Umeå four times a week – Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays (from Umeå to Riga on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays). Beginning on 31 May, the flights will be offered daily. The flights to and from Umeå will make a stop at the Finnish town of Vaasa and will be operated with Fokker 50 aircraft.
Rachel Reeves announced port upgrades, protected budgets for innovation and investment in novel technologies.
The Australian Budget was marked by tax cuts and a looming general election which led to little hope that there would be a substantial defence boost even with a big bill for nuclear submarines due.
The communications company Gilat launched its new Gilat Defense division at the Satellite 2025 expo, with future solutions aimed at US military customers.
US services have already conducted multiple tests with military maritime systems fitted with the system.
Europe’s Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) “has to establish itself…as a centre of excellence for cooperative Defence Equipment Programmes” in the face of growing threats and the need for rearmament, according to the organisation’s chairman.
MBDA CEO Éric Béranger stressed the company’s role supporting European countries with complex weapon systems and focused on boosting production against the backdrop of “shifting” geopolitical alliances.