Baltia moves closer to launch

A few months ago I wrote about start-up Baltia Air Lines, which seeks to initially connect New York with St. Petersburg, Russia. It seems like they're moving closer to getting off the ground, now that they've registered and taken delivery of their first aircraft, a Boeing 747-200. The airplane, which was delivered in 1975 to TAP Air Portugal and has subsequently flown for Pakistan International Airlines, is to be registered N705BL. Baltia paid $475,000 for it (and it came without engines, apparently), but the airline has announced that it has started overhauling the plane, "preparing [it] for upgrades to conform to the company's business model, and for maintenance."

I haven't been able to find out much more about Baltia's progress, although apparently the Wall Street Journal is getting interested, which could add a bit more credibility to the start-up operation, not to mention some more facts about the subject. (If you do have any updates on Baltia, please do let me know.)