newstodate.aero
Aug 19, 2009 (newstodate): The aviation crisis in the Baltic region seems to be deepening as the year unfolds.
While Lithuania's flyLAL collapsed already in January, 2009, leaving a void only now slowly starting to be filling up, Estonia's national carrier Estonian Air is still struggling to find solutions to its acute financial crisis as the SAS Group has earlier announced its decision to sell its 49 percent stake while still injecting some fresh capital into the airline pending its sale.
Now Latvia's expanding national carrier airBaltic is also amidst a deep financial crisis.
By the end of 2008 SAS sold its 47.2 percent stake in airBaltic to the airline's CEO, Bertolt Flick, through a management buy-out, leaving the Baltic state with the 52.6 percent of the shares.
The airline is now in dire needs for fresh capital and has appealed to the state to participate in a large capital expansion. So without results.
Only in April, 2009, Mr Flick held another view of his co-owner:
-The state is, however, not an easy partner, and I hope it will soon be willing to dilute its shares. But it is neither willing to sell, nor willing to take risks.
-In the longer term, the way forward will be finding a partner willing to invest in the carrier, Mr Flick then told newstodate.
airBaltic has so far succeeded in capitalizing on the difficulties in its neighbouring markets, Estonia and Lithuania, by building up Riga Airport as the region's transfer hub - but traffic volumes have not been followed by a corresponding rise in revenues and profits.
While Lithuania's flyLAL collapsed already in January, 2009, leaving a void only now slowly starting to be filling up, Estonia's national carrier Estonian Air is still struggling to find solutions to its acute financial crisis as the SAS Group has earlier announced its decision to sell its 49 percent stake while still injecting some fresh capital into the airline pending its sale.
Now Latvia's expanding national carrier airBaltic is also amidst a deep financial crisis.
By the end of 2008 SAS sold its 47.2 percent stake in airBaltic to the airline's CEO, Bertolt Flick, through a management buy-out, leaving the Baltic state with the 52.6 percent of the shares.
The airline is now in dire needs for fresh capital and has appealed to the state to participate in a large capital expansion. So without results.
Only in April, 2009, Mr Flick held another view of his co-owner:
-The state is, however, not an easy partner, and I hope it will soon be willing to dilute its shares. But it is neither willing to sell, nor willing to take risks.
-In the longer term, the way forward will be finding a partner willing to invest in the carrier, Mr Flick then told newstodate.
airBaltic has so far succeeded in capitalizing on the difficulties in its neighbouring markets, Estonia and Lithuania, by building up Riga Airport as the region's transfer hub - but traffic volumes have not been followed by a corresponding rise in revenues and profits.