LONDON – Earlier this week saw Latvian carrier airBaltic report a strong profit for the third quarter of this year.
The carrier reported a profit of 17.1 million EUR for the third quarter, with the carrier going more into their 9M22 statistics in their release.
9M22 Figures…
For the first nine months of this year, airBaltic reported revenues of 362.5 million EUR, which is up from the 133.3m EUR collected in the same period last year.
This has converted into a net loss of 35.6 million EUR, with the carrier attributing this loss to the foreign currency exchange loss that has occurred over the course of this year.
The airline handled 2.4 million passengers in 9M22, which is 1.4 million more than in the same period last year.
Such a figure isn’t surprising given the fact that the airline operated 27,713 flights in that period, which is up from 14,719 last year.
Gauss: Industry is Recovering…
Commenting on these results was airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss:
“The aviation industry is recovering from the effects of the pandemic, and that is also reflected in our financial results.”
“With exceeding EUR 362.5 million in revenue and 2.4 million passengers already in the first nine months of this year, airBaltic is on the way back to profitability.”
“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,”
Summer 2023 Will Continue Growth Plans…
It’s clear that the Summer 2023 schedule will help airBaltic continue to grow and get itself out of the 9M-based loss it is in currently.
Such scheduling was announced back in October, which will contain flights to 70 destinations, of which 18 new routes will launch from the Baltics.
The summer program will start at the end of March 2023, with the new flights being:
- From Riga (RIX)
- Istanbul (IST) – 4 flights weekly
- Hannover (HAJ) – 2 flights weekly
- Bucharest (OTP) – 3 flights weekly
- Porto (OPO) – 2 flights weekly
- Burgas (BOJ) – 2 flights weekly
- Bilbao (BIO) – 2 flights weekly
- Tivat (TIV) – 2 flights weekly
- Yerevan (EVN) – 2 flights weekly
- Belgrade (BEG) – 2 flights weekly
- Baku (GYD) – 2 flights weekly
- From Tallinn (TLL)
- Split (SPU) – 2 flights weekly
- Rhodes (RHO) – 2 flights weekly
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – 2 flights weekly
- Heraklion (HER) – 2 flights weekly
- From Vilnius (VNO)
- Malaga (AGP) – 2 flights weekly
- Palma de Mallorca (PMI) – 2 flights weekly
- Nice (NCE) – 2 flights weekly
- Heraklion (HER) – 2 flights weekly
CEO of airBaltic, Martin Gauss, commented on the expansion, saying: “This is the largest number of new routes in a single season we have ever seen at airBaltic.”
“We continue to be committed to our home cities in the Baltics and improving connectivity to and from the region.”
“We are glad to expand our airBaltic offering for the next summer season both with new route additions and increased flight frequencies on our existing leisure and city break routes.”
Overall…
It remains clear that airBaltic is plowing on ahead and is very close to recovering financially from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The third-quarter profit is a good indicator of how close they are to achieving such positivity moving forward.
All eyes are on the carrier to see how they fare in 2023.