Latvian national airBaltic airline promises to continue its expansion in Vilnius, increase its fleet of aircraft stationed there, as well as the number of destination offered there, as reported by airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss.
“We are expanding into Vilnius. Every year we increase the number of destinations from Vilnius. Therefore, we continue to expand our presence here, and we have a clear plan to move forward and continue to expand in Vilnius,” Gauss said in his interview to BNS.
He mentioned that airBaltic is the market leader in Riga, Estonia, as well as Finland’s Tampere airport, but at Vilnius airport the Latvian national airline has only the third largest market share. Gauss stressed that airBaltic’s goal is to expand in Vilnius and gain more and more market share.
According to him, the company plans to double its fleet by 2030, so airBaltic can also more than double its fleet in Vilnius. Currently, airBaltic constantly operates two aircraft in the Lithuanian capital, although it has four aircraft in Tallinn, which is smaller than Vilnius.
“We are planning to deploy more aircraft in Vilnius. When we deploy more planes there, and there will be many more of them, we will have more destinations from Vilnius,” added the airline’s CEO, adding that the airline “has already informed Vilnius airport that we will have more planes flying from Vilnius. That is our plan”.
At the beginning of September, airBaltic announced it will be making flights to seven new destinations from Vilnius Airport. There are also plans to increase the number of flights on four existing routes.
airBaltic carried a total of 4.536 million passengers last year, an increase of 35.7% compared to 2022, and 44 100 flights, an increase of 18.3% compared to the year before.
The audited turnover of airBaltic last year was EUR 664.289 million, which is an increase of 33.2% compared to 2022, and the company made a profit of EUR 33.852 million as opposed to losses a year earlier.
The Latvian state owns 97.97% of airBaltic shares, while the financial investor Aircraft Leasing 1, which is owned by Danish entrepreneur Lars Thuesen, owns – 2.03%.