Riga  - Latvian airline airBaltic confirmed Thursday it was "seriously considering" starting its own taxi company in response to passenger complaints about being ripped off by taxi firms as soon as they arrive in the Baltic state.

"Our primary goal is to have taxi services as transparent as possible in Riga," company spokesman Janis Vanags told the German Press Agency dpa

The airline has been receiving a constant stream of complaints about overcharging and poor quality service that needs to be sorted out by the time the summer season kicks in, Vanags said.

"We have made our requirements public to the city council and we expect that they will do their utmost to normalise the taxi business in the city. If they fail to do so we will really start our own taxi business," said Vanags.

Earlier this week airBaltic's German president and CEO, Bertolt Flick, wrote to Riga mayor Janis Birks about the matter.

"Our experience shows that taxi service providers in Riga are often highway robbers, and they charge too much for their services.

"I think that it is high time to bring greater order to this sector in Latvia, because otherwise it will irreversibly damage people's views about how Latvia treats tourists who arrive in the country," Flick said. (dpa)