The Latvian national airline airBaltic made €4.6mn in net profit last year, a growth of 301% against the net result in 2016, the company said on April 12.
The airline is 80% owned by the Latvian state with the remainder held by Danish businessman Lars Thuesen. Making airBaltic a top airline in the Baltic state has long been Riga’s priority. The problems of state airlines in neighbouring Estonia and Lithuania made the task easier.
Latvia planned further changes in the airline’s ownership by introducing a strategic investor in the company but the improving results have made that a less pressing issue.
“What has changed is that our performance has significantly improved. That enables us to do things on our own that initially we thought we could only do if we get new investors in,” airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss told Reuters in March.
The Latvian airline posted sales of €347.7mn in 2017, a growth of 22% compared to 2016. It flew 3.5mn passengers, 22% more than in 2016, having operated nearly 50,100 flights, an increase of 14%.
Strengthened by the good result, the company is now setting its sights on modernising its fleet by purchasing new Bombardier aircraft, airBaltic’s CEO Martin Gauss said in a statement.
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