Air Baltic flags highest-ever first-half revenue

Air Baltic saw its highest-ever first-half revenue this year, according to guidance released on 13 July. The Latvia-based carrier said preliminary revenue was E285m for the January-June period, marking a 49% rise from the same period in 2022 and a 30% increase from its 2019 result. It did not provide any guidance on profitability. The revenue increase comes despite passengers numbers of 2m being down on the 2.2m carried in the same period of 2019, reflecting the industry-wide trend of strong yields. Versus 2022, passenger numbers were up 52% from 1.3m. “The first half of 2023 has surpassed our expectations, driving Air Baltic towards strong commercial performance,” says CE Martin Gauss. “We have been recording a strong summer season so far, with each passing month showcasing improvements with an upward trend.” Air Baltic retains its target to achieve E700m in full-year revenue, Gauss says, by carrying 4.4m passengers. Alongside its operations from the Baltic states and a one-aircraft base in the Finnish city of Tampere, the state-owned carrier is wet-leasing out at least 14 of its 40 or so Airbus A220-300s for the current summer season, including to Lufthansa Group. Gauss told FlightGlobal in April that the Baltic countries would accommodate around 40 A220-sized jets by end-2025 – some 10 fewer than it identified before the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Non-Baltic bases and the wet-leasing out of capacity have therefore become integral to Air Baltic’s strategy. Air Baltic is due to release its full first-half financial earnings on 9 August.<br/>