Lufthansa Group takes 10% share in airBaltic, extends A220 wet lease deal  

Germany’s Lufthansa Group has confirmed that it has acquired a 10% stake in Riga-based Latvian flag carrier airBaltic. The deal, announced on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, confirms an intention first mooted by the Lufthansa Group in October 2024 to take a minority shareholding in the Latvian airline. The acquisition comes just weeks after the Group finalized its takeover of ITA Airways in Italy, as the company continues to grow its presence in the European marketplace.

The agreement announced by Lufthansa Group involves a €14 million ($14.6 million) investment in airBaltic, in a deal signed between the Latvian Ministry of Transport and the Lufthansa Group. The latter will not only receive a minority stake in airBaltic but will also have a seat on the carrier’s Supervisory Board. Initially, the investment provides Lufthansa with a 10% convertible share in airBaltic, which can be converted into ordinary shares upon any Initial Public Offering (IPO) of airBaltic in the future.

According to an airBaltic statement, the size of the stake will be determined by market pricing of the potential IPO, with Lufthansa Group’s share amounting to no less than 5% of the airline. The IPO was initially delayed to the spring of 2025, although earlier in January 2025, executives at airBaltic intimated that it could even be stalled until early 2026. 

The closing of the transaction with the Lufthansa Group is planned for the second quarter of 2025 and remains subject to antitrust review by EU competition authorities.

Renatas Repcinskas / ShutterstockAccording to a statement issued by the Lufthansa Group announcing the share sale, “This transaction is building on the existing wet-lease agreement between Lufthansa Group and airBaltic and intends to strengthen airBaltic’s role as a strategic partner of Lufthansa Group. Expanding this commercial cooperation allows Lufthansa Group to improve the quality of its network and to add additional markets. Additionally, further product development of the wet lease services in line with our customer expectations is planned.”

The deal further cements the relationship between the two carriers that has already been established in recent years. Just recently, an existing wet-lease agreement between Lufthansa Group and airBaltic was extended for a further three years beyond the summer of 2025. This partnership provides for Lufthansa Group carriers (which includes Austrian, Brussels Airlines, SWISS, Air Dolomiti, Discover, and ITA Airways) to employ up to five of airBaltic’s fleet of 50 149-seat Airbus A220-300 in the winter of 2024/25 plus up to 21 aircraft in the summer of 2025 across various Lufthansa Group hubs.

Lufthansa Group Of the extension of the wet lease deal, Lufthansa Group states it is “Responding more flexibly to the additional customer demand for summer 2025. With the additional capacities of airBaltic, destinations in high demand in the route networks can be served even more flexibly in the future. At the same time, it strengthens the quality and stability of connections to Lufthansa Group Airlines’ intercontinental services at the Group’s hubs.”

airBaltic is Latvia’s national and largest airline with its headquarters and hub in Riga and has just received its 50Airbus A220 aircraft from Airbus in Mirabel, Canada wearing a special celebration livery designed by a competition winner. The Lufthansa Group has been working with airBaltic since 2019, which the German airline group says “has proven itself to be a reliable and valuable partner.”

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