When Latvian airline Airbaltic began voting in August to name its 48 planes after Baltic cities, they couldn't have predicted what was in store. The Czechs found out about the vote, and things didn't go as expected. Thanks to the intervention of Czech pranksters, the small Estonian town of Kunda thwarted the vote and won by a landslide. :format(webp)/nginx/o/2024/08/25/16313622t1he8fd.jpg)
Airbaltic's vote to name planes after Baltic cities has gained attention and popularity beyond the Baltics. Photo: Federico Gambarini Diana Tiidemaa, economic journalist August 25, 2024, 16:25
When Latvian airline Airbaltic began voting in August to name its 48 planes after Baltic cities, they couldn't have predicted what was in store. The Czechs found out about the vote, and things didn't go as expected. Thanks to the intervention of Czech pranksters, the small Estonian town of Kunda thwarted the vote and won by a landslide.
Translation: Sergey Svetlov
Of the 232 cities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, 48 winners were chosen – 16 from each country. These names will be painted on Airbaltic planes. Of course, the Baltic capitals – Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius – were not among the proposals, but the opportunity was also given to smaller cities, which ultimately turned out to be much more popular than the larger cities.
The airline's original idea was for residents of each city to vote for their city, but voting was open not only to the Baltics but to the entire world, which affected the results more than anyone might have expected. You could vote for your favorite once a day until midnight on Thursday, and when Czechs found out about the contest, they did their best.
The city whose name delighted the Czechs won
When Novinky published the first article about the vote on the morning of August 13, the small town of Kunda, located in northern Estonia and home to about 3,000 people, had only 730 votes. With that number of votes, it was not among the top 16 cities in Estonia. But just a couple of hours later, Kunda had 10,699 votes, and the vote had gained a whole new momentum.
The vote ended ten days later, at midnight on Thursday, and the Czech dark horse won by a landslide. Although Airbaltic ultimately did not release the final results, the Czech favourite had 265,716 votes by Thursday afternoon, a few hours before the end of voting. That’s more than 14 times more than the next city, Estonia.
"Kunda" is a vulgar word in Czech used to refer to female genitalia.
"Püssi" is a name that sounds like a vulgar English word also used to describe female genitalia.
For a similar reason, another Estonian town, Püssi, whose name evokes certain associations in English, has also achieved success. Its name will also be written on one of the planes.
The airline's spokesperson Daniela Bergmane told Novinky during the vote: "We have no official comment on this matter. As you probably understand, the names of these cities are outside the control of Airbaltic and may have different meanings in some languages."
Czechs also supported Lihul
Kunda was not the only city that the Czechs decided to help. After Kunda’s success was assured, calls to vote for Estonia’s Lihula began to spread en masse in Czech internet discussions. After all, Czechs are known worldwide for their positive attitude towards alcoholic beverages.
For Czechs, the name Lihula was funny because it sounds similar to the word líh (Czech for "alcohol" or "spirit"), which is associated with alcoholic drinks.
The northern Estonian town of Lihula, home to fewer than 3,000 people, is known mostly for its medieval castle ruins, a 17th-century manor house and a beautiful church. Before the Czechs intervened, Lihula was ranked 40th in its country. It was ultimately one of 48 winners from three countries and will also bear the name of one of the planes.
The ranking of the results was not published.
The airline's decision not to publish the full results of the vote may be a diplomatic move to avoid drawing attention to the mass intervention of the Czechs and to avoid explaining to the world why it happened. On the airline's website, the cities in the final vote are listed in alphabetical order. In total, Airbaltic received almost a million votes from all over the world during the voting.
Planes with the names of the winners will take to the skies from 2025. Unsurprisingly, they will also feature the names of all the capitals of the Baltic states. The full list of 48 winners can be found here . Whether the overall winner – the city with the catchy name – will also fly on the Czech Riga-Prague route remains in question, Novinky wrote.
