According to airBaltic, the first quarter of 2023 broke all previous records for the company, with “good business signs” permeating the whole three-month span.
The Latvian flag carrier brought in €104.3 million ($114.7 million) overall, an increase of 74% over Q1 2022. In comparison to the 434,700 passengers airBaltic carried in Q1 2022, it carried 769,600 passengers in Q1 2023.
Also, it carried out 8,700 flights in the first three months of 2023, an increase of 28% from the same period in 2022, with an average load factor of 70.9%. In the first three months of 2022, the airline recorded a load factor of 53.4%.
94 flights out of the 8,700 total flights were carried out under brief wet lease contracts for the benefit of other airlines.
“Current indications reflect that the first quarter of 2023 has exceeded our expectations and airBaltic is on the way back to persistent profitability,” commented Martin Gauss, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of airBaltic. Gauss pointed out that the carrier’s goals are “clear”, as it wants to achieve a yearly revenue of €700 million ($769.4 million) and carry up to 4.4 million passengers.
“In this way, the company will return to a pre-crisis state and a positive result,” Gauss added. Over the next few months, the carrier will focus on its Initial Public Offering (IPO) but airBaltic’s “core objectives” remain the same, namely that it wants to ensure “the best connectivity between the Baltics” and the world.
If Q1 2023 was profitable or not was not stated by airBaltic.
The Latvian airline generated €500 million ($543.3 million) in revenue in 2022, narrowing its previous year’s €135.7 million ($149.1 million) net loss to €54.2 million ($59.4 million).
AirBaltic most recently stated that in order to prevent operational disruptions brought on by Pratt & Whitney’s engine repair turnaround time delays, it would be necessary to wet lease aircraft from other airlines.
The Pratt & Whitney 1500G engine, which only powers the Airbus A220 aircraft, is made by P&W. According to data from ch-aviation.com, the airline now owns 39 A220s, 11 of which are either in storage or undergoing maintenance.
