Latvia’s national airline airBaltic will offer 57 direct routes from Riga throughout the next summer season, nearly 20% fewer than during this year’s summer season. At the same time, the airline will increase flight frequencies on 12 of its most popular routes, according to calculations by the LETA news agency based on information provided by airBaltic.
The LETA archive shows that during the 2026 summer season, the airline offered nearly 70 direct routes from Riga.
The airline now says that airBaltic will offer 59 direct routes from Riga during the 2027 summer season. However, two destinations – Madeira and Sharm el-Sheikh, which airBaltic will serve during the upcoming winter season – will remain in the route network for only one month, in April. After that, the network will consist of 57 destinations.
During the summer season, airBaltic will operate flights from Riga to Alicante, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Belgrade, Berlin, Billund, Bucharest, Brussels, Budapest, Burgas, Zurich, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Helsinki, Heraklion, Catania, Chisinau, Copenhagen, Corfu, Larnaca, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Madeira (April only), Madrid, Malaga, Milan, Munich, Naples, Nice, Oslo, Oulu, Palanga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris, Pisa, Porto, Prague, Reykjavik, Rhodes, Rome, Thessaloniki, Sofia, Split, Istanbul, Stockholm, Sharm el-Sheikh (April only), Tallinn, Tampere, Tbilisi, Tel Aviv, Tenerife, Tirana, Tivat, Turku, Vienna and Vilnius.
airBaltic’s Head of Public and Political Relations, Augusts Zilberts, told LETA that all flights for next summer are currently being updated on the airline’s website. The airline confirmed that during the next summer season it will no longer operate flights to Aberdeen in Scotland, Antalya in Turkey, Batumi in Georgia, Bergen in Norway, Dublin in Ireland, Yerevan in Armenia, Faro in Portugal, Gothenburg in Sweden, Malta, Olbia in Italy and Valencia in Spain. Flights to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates are planned for the winter season.
Flight frequencies will be increased from Riga to London Gatwick to up to 14 flights per week, Paris to up to 12 flights per week, Vienna to up to 12 flights per week, Barcelona to up to seven flights per week, Rome to up to seven flights per week, Hamburg to up to seven flights per week, Düsseldorf to up to seven flights per week, Milan to up to six flights per week, Athens to up to four flights per week, Nice to up to four flights per week, Alicante to up to three flights per week and Split to up to three flights per week.
Zilberts stressed that although the number of routes will be lower, the number of seats offered will be comparable to the 2026 summer season.
The airline emphasises that from late March until late October 2027, Riga will continue to serve as airBaltic’s main operational hub and its largest route-network base, offering passengers a broad selection of direct destinations and convenient connections across Europe and beyond.
The 2027 summer flight programme has been developed in line with airBaltic’s new business plan and reflects an optimised, demand-driven route network strategy. The airline is focusing on markets with the highest demand and revenue potential, serving both business and leisure travellers while increasing frequencies on selected routes where passenger demand is growing.
The programme also provides for an improved hub structure in Riga by optimising flight schedules and connection times. According to the airline, this will provide passengers with more convenient travel options both from Riga and via the Latvian capital to destinations across airBaltic’s network. By improving Riga’s connectivity and strengthening its role as a connecting point between the Baltic states and the rest of Europe, the programme is also intended to reinforce Riga Airport’s position as the leading aviation hub in the Baltic region.
The upcoming winter flight season will run from late October 2026 until late March 2027, when the summer season begins. Overall, airBaltic plans to operate flights from the Latvian capital to nearly 70 destinations during 2027.
As previously reported, airBaltic’s Supervisory Board has approved a business plan that, among other measures aimed at improving liquidity, envisages raising EUR 225 million in bridge financing using the existing collateral pool securing the 2029 senior bonds.
In the longer term, the plan envisages recapitalising the company through up to EUR 225 million in new debt and EUR 100 million in new equity. Part of the existing 2029 bonds will be converted into equity, while the remainder will be replaced with new, reduced debt of up to EUR 125 million.
The business plan also envisages the airline operating 36 Airbus A220-300 aircraft by the end of 2026, compared with 54 aircraft currently, with the fleet gradually increasing to around 40 aircraft by 2031.
As previously reported, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs on Tuesday, 25 August, promulgated the airBaltic Financial Stabilisation Measures Law, which had been adopted by the Saeima under an expedited procedure on 20 August.
The law authorises the government to potentially participate in the purchase of airBaltic bridge-financing bonds worth up to EUR 30 million, alongside private investors and on identical terms. The Cabinet of Ministers will be able to make a separate decision on purchasing the bonds if necessary.
The law also provides for the capitalisation of claims arising from the state loan and bonds already held by the state into the company’s share capital. This means that EUR 50 million worth of state-owned bonds and the remaining loan amount of more than EUR 18 million may be converted into airBaltic shares.
On 25 August, the government also approved extending the repayment deadline for the remaining EUR 18 million principal amount of airBaltic’s state loan until 30 December this year.
This month, airBaltic bondholders supported the capitalisation of the next two bond interest payments, as well as several other measures providing the airline with additional flexibility in implementing its revised business plan.
Bondholders approved adding the interest payments due on 14 August and 14 November this year to the bond principal rather than paying them in cash. They also approved a temporary waiver of minimum liquidity requirements until November 2026.
Last year, airBaltic Group’s revenue increased by 4.2% compared with 2024, reaching EUR 779.344 million. Meanwhile, the group posted losses of EUR 44.337 million, 2.7 times lower than in 2024. In 2025, the airline carried a total of 5.2 million passengers, 1% more than in 2024.
Last summer, Germany’s national airline Lufthansa became an airBaltic shareholder. Currently, the Latvian state owns 88.37% of airBaltic shares, Lufthansa holds 10%, Danish businessman Lars Thuesen’s company Aircraft Leasing 1 holds 1.62%, and other shareholders own the remaining 0.01%. The company’s share capital amounts to EUR 41.819 million.
In view of its 2025 financial results and market conditions, airBaltic has suspended its potential initial public offering and does not currently consider an IPO a potential source of capital in 2026, according to airBaltic’s annual report.
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