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March 29, 2024
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airBaltic reduced its net loss for the first nine months of 2022 by half, thanks to the recovery of air travel in the past months. But the airline from the Baltic States is feeling the effects of the war in Ukraine and the geopolitical effects in the region. airBaltic further reduces loss on the way to profitability.

airBaltic reported a €-35.6 million net loss for January-September this year compared to €-72.1 million in the same period of 2021. Revenues improved to €362.5 million from €133.3 million. These numbers reflect the strong recovery of demand and are confirmed by an increase of passengers carried to 2.4 million, up from one million last year. For HY1, airBaltic reported a €-59.3 million net loss.

As the airline doesn’t disclose other financial statistics except for a pre-exceptional income of €17.1 million for Q3, more details are unknown. One indication of events is the number of passengers carried in October, which was up 38 percent to 331.500 and confirms that the recovery seems to have continued in Q4. Pax carried for the year to date including October stands at 2.6 million, which is more than in the two Covid years.

airBaltic said in early November that booking trends are returning to pre-pandemic levels, especially “for special occasions and celebrations, for example, school holidays in autumn, the Midsummer holidays, skiing trips in winter, and more. Leisure trips still continue to be booked more in advance than, for example, city breaks or business trips.” Bookings for the December holidays have already reached sixty percent, with Vienna, Munich, and Tenerife the most popular destinations.

CEO Martin Gauss said that airBaltic is on the way back to profitability. At the same time, 2022 has been a difficult year: “The war in Ukraine with all its consequences has changed our market conditions significantly, facing supply chain issues, growing fuel prices, rescheduling the airline’s operations, and more. But we remain consistent and our core goal remains the same – airBaltic will continue expanding its market share, by further improving connectivity between the Baltics and the rest of the world.”

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Active as a journalist since 1987, with a background in newspapers, magazines, and a regional news station, Richard has been covering commercial aviation on a freelance basis since late 2016.
Richard is contributing to AirInsight since December 2018. He also writes for Airliner World, Aviation News, Piloot & Vliegtuig, and Luchtvaartnieuws Magazine. Twitter: @rschuur_aero.

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