Airport, Investments, Latvia, Transport

The bulk of the investment will go into renovation of the airBaltic fleet. Already in a few weeks, eight "Dash Q 400" planes will arrive in Riga, which will be bought on lease, writes LETA. Thanks to the increased share capital of airBaltic, the airline was able to receive more advantageous financing offers from banks, Flick said.

The "Dash Q 400" planes have 76 seats, they will be used on routes where flight duration is under one-and-a-half hours, the airBaltic president said.

The main advantage of the larger airBaltic capital is that financing costs have decreased, Flick explained.

airBaltic fleet is at the moment made up of 31 aircraft, but the newest of these aircraft is 19 years old. This year, renovation of the old planes with new ones will begin, said Flick. "Dash Q 40" airplanes will be the first step, they will replace several old planes, whereas in the fall another three pre-owned planes, which though are quite new, would be bought on lease. By the end of the year, the airBaltic fleet will include 34 planes, he explained.

It has not been decided yet whether the new planes will be "Boeing", "Airbus" or "Dash" aircraft; this will be decided by the fall, Flick said.

As reported, the government on Tuesday supported investing LVL 15.6 million into the share capital of airBaltic. The other airBaltic shareholder, "Baltijas aviacijas sistemas" will invest LVL 14.4 million in the airline's share capital.