airBaltic

A former airBaltic Avro RJ70 in historic livery, which was retired in 2005

An airBaltic Boeing 757-200WL taking off from Riga International Airport, the airline's base, with other aircraft in the fleet in the background (May 2010)

The airline's hub, Riga International Airport, also houses the corporate head offices.

airBaltic check-in area at Riga International Airport

The cabin of an airBaltic Airbus A220

Baltic International Airlines (BIA) was a Latvian and US joint venture company owned by SIA Baltic International Airlines whose main airport was Riga International Airport . It was founded in June 1992, after the US-based private company Baltic International USA (BIUSA) failed to buy a part of the state-owned Latvian national airline Latavio. In the joint venture, the Latvian government owned 60%, while BIUSA owned 40%. After unsuccessful privatization attempts, Latavio was declared insolvent in October 1995. It was liquidated and the Government of Latvia together with Baltic International Airlines created AirBaltic.

The airline was established as Air Baltic on 28 August 1995 with the signing of a joint venture between Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and the Government of Latvia. Operations started on 1 October 1995 with the first AirBaltic aircraft, a Saab 340, in Riga, and that afternoon, the plane made the first passenger flight for AirBaltic.[4]

In 1996, the airline's first Avro RJ70 was delivered; and Air Baltic joined the SAS frequent flier club as a partner. In 1997, a cargo department was established and, in 1998, the airline's first Fokker 50 plane was delivered. The adopted livery was mainly white, with the name of the airline written in blue on the forward fuselage, the 'B' logo being heavily stylized in blue checks. The checker blue pattern was repeated on the aircraft tailfin.

In 1999, airBaltic became a joint stock company; it was previously a limited liability company. All of the Saab 340s were replaced by Fokker 50s. In September, the airline began operating under the European Aviation Operating Standards, or JAR ops. Air Baltic welcomed the new millennium by introducing new uniforms [5] and opening a cargo centre at Riga's airport.

The first Boeing 737-500 joined the fleet in 2003, and on 1 June 2004, Air Baltic launched services from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, initially to five destinations. In October 2004, Air Baltic was rebranded as AirBaltic. Its present livery consists of an all-white fuselage and lime tailfin. AirBaltic.com is displayed on the forward upper fuselage, and the word "Baltic" is repeated in blue on the lower part of the tailfin. In December 2006, the first Boeing 737-300 joined the fleet and was configured with winglets. In July 2007, AirBaltic introduced an online check-in system, the first online check-in system in the Baltic states..[6] In the spring of 2008, two long-haul Boeing 757s were added to the fleet. In 2010, the airline began leasing De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 aircraft, it retired these aircraft in 2023.[7]

AirBaltic had strong links with SAS, which owned 47.2% of the airline, and operated frequent flights to SAS hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. Some of AirBaltic's products and services are still shared with SAS, including co-ordinated timetabling and shared airport lounges. AirBaltic is not a member of any airline alliance but does have codeshare agreements in place with several Star Alliance member airlines and others.

AirBaltic had secondary hubs at Vilnius Airport and Tallinn Airport.[8] The majority of the routes commenced from Tallinn were cancelled shortly after opening, leading to complaints from the Estonian Consumer Protection Department.[9]

In January 2009, SAS sold its entire stake in the company (47.2% of the airline) to Baltijas aviācijas sistēmas Ltd (BAS) for 14 million lats. BAS was wholly owned by Bertolt Flick (President and CEO) until December 2010, when 50% of BAS shares were transferred to Taurus Asset Management Fund Limited, registered in the Bahamas.[10]

In August 2011, AirBaltic requested more than 60 million lats in capital as its losses continued to mount,[11] and suffered speculation about its financial position[12][13][14][15] and political scandals throughout 2011.[16][17] In mid-September 2011, the company announced plans to lay off around half its employees and cancel around 700 flights a month to avoid possible grounding.[18][19] The company also announced that a mystery investor was willing to pay 9.6 million euros for an additional 59,110 shares.[20] On 4 October 2011, the plans were annulled in order to make the necessary investments in the airline's capital. The government of Latvia and BAS agreed to invest around 100 million lats in the airline's share capital in proportion to their stakes in AirBaltic.[21][22] In connection with the agreement, Flick stepped down as long-term President and CEO of the airline. Martin Gauss, former CEO of Hungarian airline Malév, became the new CEO.[23]

AirBaltic had made an announcement on 23 September 2010 that it would establish a new secondary hub at Oulu Airport.[24][25]

In early 2012, it was confirmed that Oulu hub plans were cancelled due to financial issues.[26] The cost-cutting program, initiated by AirBaltic which aimed to return to profitability in 2014, scored better than planned results in 2012, by narrowing its losses to €27.2 million, from €121.5 in 2011.[27][28]

The state's shareholding had been 99.8% since 30 November 2011, following the collapse of a bank linked with a finance package negotiated for the airline,[29][30] but on 6 November 2015 it was reported that the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers had approved plans to sell 20% of airBaltic to German investor Ralf Dieter Montag-Girmes for €52 million and agreed to invest a further €80 million in the airline. The total of €132 million of fresh capital for the carrier is intended to spur its Horizon 2021 business plan and fleet modernisation.[31][32] Following the closure of Air Lituanica and Estonian Air respectively in June and November 2015, it is alongside Nordica, one of two flag carriers in the Baltic countries.

The Bombardier CS300 delivery was much anticipated by airBaltic since this new aircraft type was originally planned to replace most of the airline's Boeing 737-300s and Boeing 737-500s and would replace all by 2020. The delivery of the CS300 happened on 29 November 2016, at 2 am ET. On 28 November, Bombardier and airBaltic held a ceremony in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada for the first delivery of the CS300. At 1:30 am, shortly before the scheduled departure, an oil leak from an engine was spotted. It delayed the departure, but at 2:23 am ET, the aircraft was now airBaltic's property. On board the inaugural flight, there were 18 people, including 6 pilots: 3 from Bombardier, and 3 from airBaltic. At 4:13 am ET, after a delay of over 2 hours, flight BT9801 took off en route to Stockholm. The airline received two CS300 in 2016 and expects to receive six in 2017, eight in 2018 and four more in 2020.[33]

AirBaltic was looking for opportunities to replace its Q400 turboprop fleet, and Bombardier and Embraer were viewed as potential future aircraft suppliers, with possible deliveries of 14 new aircraft beginning in 2020.[34]

On 26 September 2017, AirBaltic announced it would buy at least 14 additional CSeries aircraft from Bombardier before the end of 2018; it planned to switch to an all-CSeries fleet by the early 2020s.[35] Additional orders by AirBaltic were announced by Bombardier on 28 May 2018 and included 30 CS300 with options and purchase rights for a further 30 CS300.[36][37] Airbus purchased a 50.01% majority stake in the CSeries program in October 2017, with the deal closing in July 2018; the aircraft family was subsequently renamed the Airbus A220.

AirBaltic temporarily suspended operations on 17 March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic,[38] and flights only restarted on a limited basis from 18 May 2020.[39]

On 14 December 2021, AirBaltic announced that its first secondary hub outside of the Baltic countries will be founded in Tampere–Pirkkala Airport in May 2022.[40]

In 2022, AirBaltic launched a NFT collection with benefits for the airBaltic Club loyalty program.[41]

In 2023, AirBaltic announced that it would be partnering with Starlink to provide free in-flight Wi-Fi in their routes, making it the first in Europe to provide free in-flight Wi-Fi.[42][43] The service is expected to start being installed at some point in 2023.[44]

In June 2023, AirBaltic announced that it would establish a new seasonal base at Gran Canaria Airport, with two aircraft to be stationed there for the forthcoming winter season.[45]

AirBaltic currently operates certain flights for SWISS.[46]

airBaltic is a joint-stock company, with current shareholders (as of January 2022): [48] [49]

The airline's full accounts have not always been published regularly; figures disclosed by AirBaltic via various publications are shown below (for years ending 31 December):

airBaltic has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[70]

As of September 2023, the airBaltic fleet consists of an all Airbus A220 fleet:[82][83]

Former airBaltic Fokker 50

Former airBaltic Bombardier Dash 8 Q400

airBaltic formerly also operated the following types of aircraft:[91][92][93][94]

The original livery was painted on Avro RJ70s and had a white fuselage. The original airBaltic colour scheme, blue and white, was painted on the engines and the vertical stabiliser. The second-generation livery also had a lime green wingtip and vertical stabiliser; however the logo was changed to airBaltic.com and the word airBaltic was painted on the engines, which were in their original metallic colour.

Until December 2019, the livery consisted of a white fuselage and lime green vertical stabiliser, wingtips and engines. In December 2019, the rear fuselage below the vertical stabilizer was also painted in lime green, with the tail cone remained white.[97] The logo, stylised 'airBaltic', is painted in dark blue on the fuselage across the windows and on the underside of the aircraft. This livery is mainly used on A220s.

In order to represent the three Baltic states, four of the A220s have been painted in a series of national flag liveries - one each for Estonia and Lithuania, two for Latvia.[87][98]

Estonian flag livery

Latvian flag livery

Lithuanian flag livery