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Thursday, 25.04.2024, 22:04
airBaltic still has goal to expand its fleet to 80 Airbus aircraft by 2025
Dear media representatives and dear people of Latvia,
With this letter, I would like to
share our appreciation for the significant support and trust the Latvian
government, our employees, the Latvian public and our partners across the world
have shown to us over the past two months.
Our airline was on a very strong
path to execute its business plan. The first months of this year again showed
new records in passenger numbers and revenues. However, in just two months, the
current global crisis put a stop to all the achievements of the past eight
years. In line with other airlines, the base for our successful business has
completely changed.
We are fully aware of our
responsibility and are thankful after the decision of the Latvian state to
significantly increase the equity of airBaltic.
We understand that this crisis required extraordinary measures to overcome the
economic effects of it. The forward-looking decision of the Government of
Latvia will enable airBaltic to
deliver strong connectivity also in the future.
With the new equity, we
will execute our Destination 2025 CLEAN
business plan, which focuses on a new start once international flights resume.
This will enable us to return to a successful growth path once the effects of
the COVID-19 crisis begin to ease. The Baltics will have a strong carrier connecting
the region to the world.
Our new Destination 2025 CLEAN
business plan foresees a reduced fleet for the upcoming years, initially
resuming operations with 22 Airbus
A220-300 aircraft. The new plan takes into account the reduced
capacity for the years 2020 and 2021, while at the same time foreseeing a
return to growth with up to 50 Airbus
A220-300 aircraft by the end of 2023.
We
set out three main priorities to be able to go forward: stay, revise and grow.
During the first stage, our main target was to achieve a significant cost
reduction. This included revised payment schedules with all suppliers, staff
reduction and postponement of all new investments as well as management salary
reduction.
We
are in the process of revising our business model to come back better than we
were before. We aim to modernise our product and become greener, cleaner and
more easily approachable by customers.
airBaltic has
been providing a notable contribution to the economies of Latvia, Estonia and
Lithuania. We
have not only brought millions of visitors to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania and
supported businesses and tourism, but we have also been one of the largest
taxpayers in Latvia. Indirectly, airBaltic supports more than 30,000
jobs in Latvia.
The additional equity enables us to
return to the third pillar of our current plan – growth. By 2025, we still aim
to fly with up to 80 Airbus A220-300
aircraft and perform an IPO taking the airline to the stock market.
Once travel restrictions are lifted,
we intend to start our operations with only a few Airbus A220-300
aircraft. We then plan to gradually add one aircraft per week as demand
returns. During the first week, we will fly to more than ten destinations. We
will connect the Baltics with every major European business and leisure hub as
soon as it will be possible to perform commercial flights to each of the
cities.
The past two months have been very
historic for our company and the aviation industry in general. The timely
decisions we have taken during this period are already shaping the future our
company will have. Our management and our employees have shown their dedication
to the company and to the Baltics by leading the airline through this crisis.
Together we will do our utmost to get our green tails back into the skies as
fast as we can. We will return even stronger than before.
Thank you for your support,
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