Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal has ruled out the possibility of the country investing in airBaltic (BT, Riga), after his Latvian counterpart Evika Siliņa called for other states in the region to back the carrier.
"Latvians expect that both Estonia and Lithuania will offer political support. This does not always mean investing money, it also means positive sympathy," he said, as quoted by the Latvian broadcaster TV3. Michal praised the airline for "maintaining quality" and providing air connectivity to Estonia.
While the Estonian government made it clear that it is not currently planning to acquire an ownership stake in the company, Lithuania has yet to provide a concrete response.
Speaking on the Latvian Radio 1 programme "Krustpunktā" on April 10, Latvia's transport minister, Atis Švinka, said that airBaltic is still preparing to launch an IPO but admitted that market conditions are currently not favourable. The government is considering various possibilities that would allow for the other Baltic states to invest in the airline, he added.
The company sacked its longstanding chief executive, Martin Gauss, after a supervisory board meeting on April 7. Gauss left airBaltic shortly after the airline posted a net loss of EUR118.2 million euros (USD130 million) for 2024. The Latvian flag carrier agreed earlier this year on a EUR14 million (USD15.5 million) investment from Lufthansa Group. For now, however, the Latvian state owns a 97.97% stake in airBaltic.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, airBaltic operates fifty A220-300s and has forty more of the jets on order. The company is currently wet-leasing three aircraft to Swiss, six to Lufthansa, five to Brussels Airlines, and three to Austrian Airlines.
