Czech Voters Favour “Obscene” Name for Air Baltic’s New Aircraft

Latvian airline Air Baltic has decided to name 48 of its aircraft after real Baltic cities.

To select these names, the carrier launched an online vote, inviting the public to participate. The competition was straightforward until Czech users noticed the Estonian city of Kunda among the options.

In Czech, the word “kunda” is a vulgar term for female genitalia.

The competition features 232 cities from Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. From each country, the 16 cities with the most votes will be chosen. Within a year of finalizing the results, each of the 48 winning names will be used on Airbus A220-300 aircraft.

Voting is open to everyone on a special website, with no registration required. The process will continue until the evening of 22 August.

The airline, perhaps naively or strategically, has kept the voting open not only to the Baltic countries but to the entire world.

In the Czech Republic, internet users quickly seized the opportunity, spreading the word on social media with calls to “participate in the most important vote of your life” and “fulfill your Czech duty.”

So far, the plan appears successful—Kunda leads among Estonian cities by a large margin. The town of Püssi is in second place, likely for similar prank reasons.

The Estonian capital is in third place, trailing the leader by more than two times.

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