Latvia’s national airline airBaltic has asked a US court to approve the appointment of financial advisory group Seabury, with a monthly fee of 250,000 euros and additional success-based payments for securing financing and carrying out restructuring transactions, according to documents filed by the airline.
The court has not yet approved the application, which is scheduled to be considered on Monday, the 19th of October.
According to the documents, Seabury has been providing investment banking and financial advisory services to airBaltic since March 2026 as part of the airline’s restructuring process.
In addition to the monthly fee of 250,000 euros, Seabury would be entitled to success fees for securing financing, restructuring debt, renegotiating fleet and contractual arrangements, attracting new equity and completing other transactions. After crediting the monthly fees against the success fees, the total success-based compensation must not exceed 18 million euros.
The documents outline several potential payments.
For example, Seabury would receive a fee equivalent to 2.25% of any new debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing secured. If airBaltic uses the full 350 million euros in available DIP financing, the corresponding fee would amount to approximately 7.9 million euros, according to calculations by news agency LETA.
Seabury would also receive 1.15% of financed and trade debt converted into airBaltic equity or otherwise extinguished during the restructuring. A separate fee of 3% would apply to newly raised equity capital, although this would not apply to funds provided by the Latvian government.
A further one-million-euro fee is envisaged for structuring and negotiating a commercial agreement, such as a joint venture or expanded codeshare arrangement, with a strategic partner providing new equity or debt financing.
Seabury would also receive hourly payments ranging from 350 to 1,490 US dollars for liquidity management services.
The fees for these services would be capped at 325,000 dollars for September, 225,000 dollars for October and 75,000 dollars for each subsequent month.
AirBaltic disclosed that during the 90 days preceding its Chapter 11 filing, it paid Seabury 872,715 dollars in professional fees and reimbursed 144,531 dollars in expenses.
The airline has also submitted an application seeking court approval for the appointment of legal adviser Milbank, which has been working on the potential restructuring since April 2026.
According to the filing, Milbank received 6.64 million dollars during the year preceding the Chapter 11 application, as well as an additional advance payment of 100,000 dollars. The documents also disclose the law firm’s billing rates, with associate lawyers charging between 745 and 1,820 dollars per hour.
Meanwhile, on the 2nd of October, airBaltic engaged US business advisory firm Riveron RTS to assist with preparing its restructuring plan, administering creditor claims and producing financial reports for the court.
According to the documents,
Riveron RTS will help prepare schedules of assets and liabilities, establish a database of creditor claims,
submit monthly reports to the court, develop the restructuring plan, prepare financial forecasts and assess which contracts should be retained or terminated.
As previously reported by LETA, airBaltic has initiated a restructuring of its financial obligations under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.
The airline has secured binding commitments from lenders to provide up to 350 million euros in new DIP financing to maintain liquidity and operations throughout the Chapter 11 proceedings.
AirBaltic has already received the first 140-million-euro tranche, of which 78.925 million euros will be used to purchase eight aircraft and seven engines.
The financing was arranged by Strategic Value Partners (SVP), with commitments from Barclays, Hayfin Capital Management, Morgan Stanley, Oaktree Capital Management and Strategic Value Partners.
The interest rate is SOFR plus 8%, currently equivalent to approximately 12%.
However, the financing arrangement also includes additional fees of up to 52.5 million euros.
Consequently, the airline will abandon its previous plan to raise up to 257 million euros from bondholders at an annual interest rate of 25%.
At the same time, a bondholder group known as the Ad Hoc Group has filed objections with the court concerning the terms of the DIP financing and its potential impact on the collateral securing bondholders’ claims.
Chapter 11 protection shields airBaltic from creditor enforcement actions while it restructures its financial obligations.
The airline has emphasised that flights and customer services will continue as normal.
All flights will operate according to the planned schedule, existing tickets and reservations remain valid, and passengers can continue purchasing tickets and travelling with airBaltic as usual.
The restructuring process is expected to result in a reorganisation plan requiring court approval. AirBaltic anticipates completing the proceedings by mid-2027.
In 2025, airBaltic Group’s revenue increased by 4.2% compared with 2024, reaching 779.344 million euros. The group recorded a loss of 44.337 million euros, approximately 2.7 times smaller than in 2024.
The airline carried 5.2 million passengers in 2025, representing a 1% increase compared with the previous year.
German national airline Lufthansa became an airBaltic shareholder in summer 2025.
Currently, the Latvian state owns 88.37% of airBaltic, Lufthansa holds 10%, and Aircraft Leasing 1, a company belonging to Danish businessman and financial investor Lars Thuesen, owns 1.62%. The remaining 0.01% belongs to other shareholders.
AirBaltic’s share capital amounts to 41.819 million euros.
Summary: airBaltic is seeking US court approval to pay financial adviser Seabury 250,000 euros per month and additional success fees of up to 18 million euros as the airline restructures its debts under Chapter 11.