'Five to ten' buyers for airBaltic, says minister

Take note – story published 9 years ago

Latvian national airline airBaltic is talking to up to ten “serious” potential buyers, Transport Minister Anrijs Matiss told Latvian Television's “Morning Panorama” news broadcast Thursday morning.

“There are various investors, both from the European Union and from outside the European Union... between five and ten of them,” Matiss said, adding that all were “serious aviation companies.”

Matiss' words come just a day after the European Commission (EC) ruled that state aid given to airBaltic had not breached its rules, opening the door to a future sale of the company which is 99.8 percent owned by the state. 

A major turnaround plan saw huge losses three years ago turned into a modest €1m profit in 2013, with the company returning to the black a year ahead of schedule.

“This shows that we took the right path over the last two years and that the sceptics who said airBaltic would have to be shut down or would have to pay back all the money were wrong,” Matiss said, describing the EC's ruling as “an important signal for investors.”

“I think we have a very good chance of seeing both further growth from airBaltic and investors being attracted,” Matiss said, “Many investors have been waiting to see what would happen with this ruling.”

Based at Riga International airport, airBaltic is by far the largest airline in the Baltic states with a fleet of 25 aircraft flying to more than 60 destinations.

Seen a mistake?

Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor

Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor

Related articles

More

Most important