airBaltic

airBaltic (AIR BALTIC CORPORATION) is a Latvian airline.

AirBaltic Joint Stock Company was founded in 1995.

2025: Lufthansa acquires 10% stake in AirBaltic for €14m

In January 2025, it was announced that the German airline Lufthansa will acquire a 10% stake in Latvian AirBaltic.

For a relatively low amount of 14 million euros. The company will also receive a seat on the Supervisory Board of AirBaltic, the main shareholder of which is the government. Latvia

The unremarkable, at first glance news, hides the dual purpose of this deal. Since 2024, the German Bundeswehr has been deploying the 45th Tank Brigade in Lithuania. In 2025, 500-700 German soldiers will be deployed in the country, and by 2027 - 4.8 thousand and 200 civil servants. As part of ensuring a permanent presence, the German command back in 2024 took care of the solution of future domestic problems of personnel, including the availability of passenger flights to Germany.

One of the exits was the acquisition of AirBaltic, which is the largest airline in the Baltic countries and flies to more than 70 destinations, and also has a fleet of 50 Airbus A220 aircraft. Joining the Supervisory Board will allow Germans to increase the number of flights to Germany and reduce the cost of tickets in the Baltic flight direction, which is not the most popular in Europe.

Germany demonstrates the firmness of intentions for a long military presence on the borders of the Union states Russia and. Belarus

2022: Losses - €54.22 million

AirBaltic, the largest Baltic air carrier, at the end of 2022 showed net losses of €54.22 million against €135.72 million a year earlier. Such data are provided in the report on sustainable development, published at the end of February 2023.

AirBaltic's revenue in 2022 reached €500.17 million. For comparison: in 2021, the airline's turnover was €204.11 million. Thus, an increase of almost 2.5 times was recorded for this indicator.

AirBaltic turnover increased 2.5 times

The report states that in 2022, several factors had a significant negative impact on the commercial, operational and financial performance of airBaltic. This, in particular, the current geopolitical situation, as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in connection with which certain restrictions are imposed in a number of regions. In addition, a significant shortage of aircraft engines was mentioned, which did not allow airBaltic to carry out flights at full capacity. On the other hand, the positives also stand out. This is the lease of 11 aircraft to European carriers on the basis of ACMI contracts (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance). In addition, the growth is due to the deferred demand of passengers for air travel.

In 2022, airBaltic transported approximately 3.34 million passengers. For comparison: a year earlier, 1.63 million people were served. Thus, the growth in this indicator was 105%. The number of flights per year rose by 59% - from 23.4 thousand to 37.3 thousand.

With revenues of more than half a billion euros and 3.34 million passengers, airBaltic is returning to stable profitability. Our main goals remain unchanged - to ensure the best possible communication between the Baltic countries and the world, as well as to improve the quality of passenger service and make a fundamental contribution to the economy, "said Martin Gauss, CEO of airBaltic.[1]

2018:31 aircraft and 3.5 million passengers per year

The main shareholder of the airline is the Latvian state, which owns 80.05% of the shares. The fleet for 2018 airBaltic has 31 aircraft.

The airline's routes at that time connect the Baltic region with 60 destinations in Europe, the CIS and the Middle East. AirBaltic is based at Riga International Airport and carries about 3.5 million passengers a year.

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