The Latvian national airline airBaltic needs to attract international investors, not from the Latvian budget, said on Monday the Chairman of the Management of the Company Martin Gauss in the Latvian TV (LTV) “Morning Panorama”.It has already been reported that airBaltic will have to cancel 4670 flights because of delays in engine maintenance in the summer season 2025 year. The company will cancel 5% of all flights scheduled for 2025 year. As LTV reported on Friday, the coalition parties intend to meet on
Monday to discuss the change of the leadership of the airline. According to Gauss LTV, the Board of airBaltic was also reminded that the company has many historical
debts that over 30 years many millions of euros were invested in it. But,
According to Gauss, Since the Covid-19 the airline has never requested from the government more money. In his view, additional funds from outside are necessary, because the company
will not be able to raise them from within, as also said by the council. In the final result it will be decided by the shareholders. Earlier the Ministry of Communication directed the management of airBaltic to immediately explain the justification for the decision to cancel flights. Minister of communication Kaspars Briskens reminded that the management of airBaltic, including the Chairman of the Management Gauss and
Chairman of the Council Klavs Vasks, are committed to
fulfill their promises to raise capital in the amount of 300 million euros to realize their business plan , and also to ensure that airBaltic’s activities are favorable to the interest of the Latvian state and the passengers. Vasks wrote on Linkedin that airBaltic is at a crossroads. “It is noted,The current political environment adds more problems. For airBaltic to be ready for IPO, bold and thoughtful decisions from the politicians. It is no secret, however, that any decision made
about airBaltic and taken in the cabinets on Brivibas Street, 36, usually causes a storm of outrage, which, need to recognize, is often based on false assumptions or understanding of the situation. “For example, the decision to reduce the core capital, which never affected the true value of the stocks,” Wasks writes. According to his words, the nearest date when the IPO airBaltic could occur is spring 2025 year, depending on the time of the final agreement with the
strategic investor and the situation in the financial markets. As Added by Vasks, “time is not our ally, and the current commitments to bonds and interest rates on these are not good for the long-term activities of the company. In order to fulfill their obligations and achieve strategic objectives, airBaltic cannot continue to operate with the accumulated years of negative capital. “Although additional capital injection from the side of the
government could cause a new local “PR crisis,” investments, are most likely to, inevitable, unless the government is prepared to completely withdraw from its investments in the favor of other investors. But even even in this case the necessary amount for sustainable development of the company may be insufficient,
“Unless such investment would occur within the IPO process, which would allow the necessary amount of capital provided by the business plan,” says Vasks. “Not a single company.in the
world has not been successfully introduced to the exchange without clear ambitions for development,
clearlydefinedstrategiesandacompetentleadershipteam,creatingconfidenceinvestors.airBalticfitsthesecriteria,buttoensuresuccessrequiresaunifiedvisionandadirectedapproachbyallparties”,thepresentativeofthecompany.Asreported,airBaltic ended thethirdquarteroflastyearwithaprofitof40.3millioneuros,andtheninemonthsoftheyearwithlossesof48,5millioneuros,airBalticfollowed140routesfromfivebaseairportslastyear.
