On Tuesday, at a closed meeting, the budget and finance commission of the Saeima reviewed the proposals of the new executive director of airBaltic, Erno Hilden, regarding the airline's development prospects and decided to revisit this issue in three months, reported the head of the commission, Anda Čakša, after the meeting.
The deputies also heard a report prepared by the Bank of Latvia on the role of airBaltic in the country's economy, which notes that the airline's contribution is approximately 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP), and even more when considering related sectors.
According to Čakša, the purpose of the meeting was to assess the current situation in the company, discuss the challenges it faces, and familiarize themselves with the new leader's vision for the further development of airBaltic.
Earlier, Finance Minister Arvils Ašeradens stated in an interview with Latvian Television that, at this time, seeking investors for airBaltic is more preferable than going public. According to him, the company needs to attract new funding in the first half of the year to continue operations.
He also noted that the new head of the airline, Hilden, gives the impression of a pragmatic and realistic leader, and the company has already received a mandate to seek investors.
As reported, the turnover of the airBaltic group for the first nine months of 2025 amounted to €594.303 million, with a profit of €4.249 million.
The audited losses of the airBaltic group in 2024 amounted to €118.159 million compared to a profit the previous year, while turnover increased by 11.9% to €747.572 million compared to 2023.
In August of last year, the German airline Lufthansa became a shareholder of airBaltic. Currently, the state owns 88.37% of airBaltic shares, Lufthansa owns 10%, Aircraft Leasing, owned by Danish entrepreneur Lars Tusén, owns 1.62%, and other shareholders own 0.01%. The company's authorized capital amounts to €41.819 million.
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