The competition for the position of CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Latvia’s national airline airBaltic has attracted over 40 applications from nearly 30 countries, including Latvia, according to Andrejs Martinovs, Chairman of the airline’s Supervisory Board.
He noted that this week the nomination commission will decide on the next steps in the candidate selection process. A recruitment specialist will then be chosen to begin the evaluation of applicants.
The new CEO will be appointed by airBaltic’s Supervisory Board based on the recommendation of the nomination commission and the recruitment specialist, Martinovs said.
According to him, the entire selection process may take around three months. At the end of the process, the public will be provided with detailed information about the evaluation criteria and the overall selection process.
Martinovs highlighted that the initial review of applications indicates a wide and highly qualified pool of candidates has been drawn to the vacancy.
As previously reported, the job advertisement for the CEO position did not specify the salary; however, airBaltic’s Supervisory Board has stated that compensation will be discussed individually with the selected candidate. In 2024, the former CEO Martin Gauss earned 838 568 euros from the company.
Until the selection process concludes, the airline continues to be led by acting CEO and Chief Operating Officer Pauls Cālītis.
It was also reported that on the 7th of April 2024, airBaltic’s Supervisory Board decided to dismiss Martin Gauss from his positions as Chairman of the Management Board and CEO.
At the end of January 2025, an agreement was reached with the German airline Lufthansa for an investment of 14 million euros in airBaltic. In exchange, Lufthansa Group will receive a convertible share giving it a 10% stake. After airBaltic’s planned initial public offering (IPO), this convertible share will be converted into ordinary shares.
Following the IPO, the size of Lufthansa Group’s stake will depend on the IPO market price. The deal also stipulates that Lufthansa Group will retain no less than 5% of airBaltic’s capital post-IPO.
This transaction is still subject to approval by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt).
Currently, the Latvian state owns 97.97% of airBaltic shares, while the remaining 2.03% belong to the financial investor “Aircraft Leasing 1,” owned by Danish entrepreneur Lars Thuesen. On the 30th of August 2024, the Latvian government agreed that the state must retain at least 25% plus one share in airBaltic’s capital following the IPO.
In 2024, airBaltic carried a total of 5.2 million passengers—an increase of 13% compared to the previous year—and operated 47 000 flights, up 7% year-on-year.
Despite this growth, the airBaltic group posted audited losses of 118.159 million euros in 2024, compared to a profit the year before. However, group turnover rose by 11.9% year-on-year to 747.572 million euros.