The new Chief Executive Officer of Latvia’s national airline airBaltic, Erno Hildén, has accumulated nearly 400,000 euros in bank savings, according to his official asset declaration submitted to the State Revenue Service upon taking office as CEO.
As of the 1st of December, 2025, Hildén held 111,012 euros in non-cash savings at Finland’s Bank Pirkanmaa, while his deposits at Sweden’s SEB Bank amounted to 3,056,141 Swedish kronor, or approximately 284,000 euros.
At the same time, Hildén reported liabilities totaling 458,954 euros. He has also issued two loans exceeding 20 times the minimum monthly salary set by the Cabinet of Ministers, amounting to 140,000 euros and 54,000 euros respectively.
In early December last year, Hildén owned financial instruments valued at 365,049 euros. His declaration shows investments in both private pension funds and life insurance policies with savings components.
In terms of real estate,
Hildén owns an apartment in Tampere, Finland, and co-owns two properties in Tuusula and Kangasala,
also in Finland. In Latvia, he rents an apartment in Riga.
His declared assets include three cars—a BMW from 2017, a BMW from 2024, and a Chevrolet from 2017—as well as a Honda motorcycle from 2018, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle from 2022, a BRP Can-Am quad bike from 2022, a Marino boat from 2019, and a Sea-Doo jet ski from 2024.
Hildén also stated that he serves as a board member in two companies registered in Finland: Hilden Invest and Habitus Hilden.
As previously reported, Erno Hildén officially began his duties as CEO of airBaltic on the 1st of December 2025. Earlier, on the 7th of April, 2024, the airline’s supervisory board decided to dismiss long-serving CEO Martin Gauss, who had held the position since the 1st of November, 2011.
In 2024, the airBaltic group reported audited losses of 118.159 million euros, compared with a profit the year before, while group turnover increased by 11.9% year-on-year to 747.572 million euros.
In late August 2025, Germany’s national airline Lufthansa became a shareholder in airBaltic.
Currently, the Latvian state owns 88.37% of the airline’s shares, Lufthansa holds 10%, Danish entrepreneur Lars Thuesen’s company Aircraft Leasing 1 owns 1.62%, and the remaining 0.01% is held by other shareholders. The company’s share capital amounts to 41.819 million eros.
Following a potential initial public offering (IPO), Lufthansa’s stake will be determined by the market price, with the agreement that Lufthansa will retain at least 5% of airBaltic’s capital after the IPO. The Latvian government has decided that after the IPO the state must keep no less than 25% plus one share. In addition, on the 19th of August, 2025, the government approved a decision for Latvia to make a 14 million euros co-investment in airBaltic prior to the potential IPO, matching Lufthansa’s contribution.
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