Last year, the Latvian national airline airBaltic Group had a turnover of 142.6 million euros, which is 72% less than a year earlier, while the company’s losses increased 29 times and reached 264.6 million euros, according to the company’s published information.
–
The Group’s normalized EBITDA or operating loss before interest and taxes, depreciation and amortization amounted to EUR 152.3 million, compared to the previous year’s profit.
Last year, the company served 1.34 million passengers, which is 73% less than in 2019. The number of flights decreased by 64% to 22,000.
Also last year, the number of employees of the company group decreased by 30%, which at the end of 2020 reached about 1,200.
Martins Gauss, CEO of airBaltic, told LETA that the Covid-19 pandemic had changed dramatically last year, but that airBaltic’s core vision for the future remains the same – to be the largest carrier in the Baltics, providing the best connectivity to and from the region.
“Due to the crisis, we significantly reduced our expenses and adjusted the business plan” Destination 2025 CLEAN “. We decided to stop using Q400 and B737 aircraft and become a carrier with only one type of aircraft two years earlier than originally planned. “The Airbus A220-300,” Gauss said.
Last year, the airline connected Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius on a total of 76 routes, providing connectivity and cargo transportation to the region.
airBaltic’s annual turnover in 2019 was 509 million euros, but the company suffered a loss of 9.1 million euros.
Last year, airBaltic received state aid to increase its share capital by EUR 250 million. After several months of evaluation, in early July 2020, the European Commission supported the Latvian government’s decision to invest EUR 250 million in airBaltic’s share capital to support the Covid-19 crisis. On August 4 last year, the financing was invested and the share capital of airBaltic reached 506,472,824 euros.
The Latvian state owns 96.14% of the voting rights in the capital of airBaltic, but the financial investor, Danish businessman Lars Tussen, owns Aircraft Leasing 1 – 3.86%.
– .
