The Republic of Latvia, the majority stakeholder in its flag-carrying airline airBaltic, has agreed to invest €90 million equity into the struggling carrier. The investment has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia and will now be subject to the approval of the European Commission.
Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “The support of our majority shareholder to overcome the crisis reflects the recognition of the positive impact airBaltic has on the economy.”
The carrier pared back its workforce to around 1,000 essential workers to keep the carrier operational in 2020 as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and a drop in passenger numbers by 73% compared to the previous year. airBaltic is responsible for 2.5% of the Latvian GDP and to support the local economy, the Latvian government has provided and continues to provide aid to all industries heavily affected by the crisis, including airBaltic.
The investment is planned to be returned to the Latvian state in the form of proceeds from selling shares during a planned initial public offering of airBaltic in the future. airBaltic operates 28 Airbus A220-300 aircraft through which it connects the Baltic region to over 70 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS. (€1.00 = US$1.18 at time of publication.)
