Latvia airline airBaltic narrowed losses in the first six months of 2021 and said it was seeing better summer traffic, it announced on August 27, 2021.
The carrier, 96% owned by the Latvian state, reported a loss of €61.5 million for the first half, compared to a loss of €184.8 million one year ago.
Passenger numbers dropped to 0.3 million from 0.8 million, while revenues fell 40% to €50 million, airBaltic said in a statement.
Chief executive Martin Gauss highlighted that airBaltic had cut costs significantly in 2020 and its fleet was now focused on the Airbus A220, placing it in a “much better position for the future return to normal”.
“Even though our revenue in the first six months of 2021 has further decreased, this summer has seen more promise, as we managed to carry a larger number of passengers than in summer months of 2020 and reduce our net loss three times compared to the six months of 2020,” Gauss said in the statement.
AirBaltic said on August 24, 2021, that it carried 209,146 passengers in July and that its load factors in that month were the highest since the COVID crisis began.
Like other carriers during the crisis, airBaltic has turned to its government for financial help. On August 17, 2021, the Latvian government approved a further €90 million of equity for the carrier, which airBaltic plans to repay in the future by an initial public offering of shares.