Business & Finance
Latvian Carrier airBaltic Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in US Court
airBaltic, the flag carrier of Latvia with additional operational bases in Estonia, Finland, and Lithuania, has filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The airline stated that the filing is intended to help it restructure its financial obligations while maintaining normal operations.
In an official statement, airBaltic confirmed it voluntarily entered Chapter 11 proceedings to build "a stronger, more sustainable capital structure, a competitive cost position and a solid foundation for the future." The move comes shortly after the airline reported a 2.3% drop in load factor for August, as passenger growth failed to match capacity increases.
The airline has already secured €350 million in new debtor-in-possession financing to support liquidity and operations, adding to €257 million in interim financing obtained 11 days earlier. airBaltic described Chapter 11 as "a well-established US legal framework that allows companies to restructure their finances and raise capital while continuing day-to-day operations under the supervision of the US Court."
The company emphasized that passengers should not expect any disruption to services. According to the statement, "flights will operate as scheduled, tickets and reservations will remain valid, and customer service will continue as usual." It also confirmed that refunds, vouchers, gift cards, and credits related to baggage or service claims will continue to be processed under existing policies, meaning no action is required from passengers with upcoming bookings.
Andrejs Martinovs, Chair of the Supervisory Board of airBaltic, said the goal is "to complete the process with a financially stronger airBaltic and a substantially reduced level of obligations that the company can sustainably manage over the long term."
airBaltic operates exclusively with Airbus A220-300 aircraft. According to fleet data from ch-aviation, the airline currently operates 54 of these narrowbody jets, with 40 more on order. The fleet has an average age of 5.4 years. Data from aeroLOPA indicates the aircraft are configured with either 148 or 149 seats in a flexible two-class layout that can be adjusted for varying business class demand.
Aviation analytics firm Cirium reports that airBaltic has scheduled 4,261 A220 flights for September, with the busiest route being Riga to Tallinn, which sees five daily flights in each direction.