airBaltic, the Latvian national airline, has issued an optimistic trading update ahead of its H1 2025 interim results, scheduled for release on 13 August 2025.
The preliminary numbers point to year-on-year growth across operational metrics and a positive outlook for the summer season.
The airline estimates its Q2 passenger volume will increase by approximately 6% to 7.5% year-on-year. This projection builds on already published figures for April, which saw a 12% year-on-year increase with 410,000 passengers, and May, with a 6% year-on-year rise to 458,000 passengers.
Revenue indicators show steady ticket yields, expected to be in the range of -1.5% to -0.5% year-on-year for Q2 2025, after “challenging” winter market conditions.
RASK (Revenue per Available Seat Kilometre) is projected to grow by 2.5% to 4% year-on-year in the second quarter, driven by stable demand and “improved” pricing.
Operational efficiency remains strong, with the average Q2 Load Factor forecast between 79% and 81%. This includes April’s load factor of 77.8% (up 1.7 percentage points year-on-year) and May’s 78.6% (up 3.4 percentage points year-on-year).
airBaltic’s capacity continues to expand, with Available Seat Kilometres for the Q2 scheduled network expected to grow by 1.5% to 2.5% year-on-year.
Pauls Cālītis, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operations Officer of airBaltic, said: “In the second quarter of 2025, our operations across the Baltics remained stable, with consistent performance across our network connecting Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, and the wider region. Operational indicators, including engine availability, continued to meet our expectations. With promising summer demand, we are in a good position to further strengthen airBaltic’s role in our core markets.”
Looking ahead, forward bookings for Q3 are currently trending approximately 3% ahead of Q3 2024, with yields and RASK expected to improve further. The airline’s full-year guidance remains unchanged, targeting 5.2 to 5.4 million passengers for 2025 and an approximately 20% growth in ACMI capacity.
The figures come in the wake of the surprise departure of previous airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss, who left the company in April after a vote of no confidence from the board. At the time, it was reported that the Latvian government had lost confidence in the airline’s senior management following a decision to cancel 4,670 flights for its 2025 summer season due to maintenance issues affecting the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines that power its Airbus A220 fleet.
airBaltic has issued optimistic preliminary Q2 results.
