Siliņa: airBaltic 30 million euro loan is 'short term solution'

• Rīta Panorāma

It is possible that Latvia's national airline "airBaltic" will need some additional financial support, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (New Unity) admitted in an interview on Latvian Television's "Morning Panorama" programme on Wednesday.

First, airBaltic must prepare a new business strategy by June, including reviewing flight plans to the Middle East. By evaluating the new strategy, the government could also gain greater clarity on whether any further support is needed from the state, the head of government said.

The government's decision to provide a 30 million euro loan until the end of August this year is a short-term solution, stressed Siliņa. In the first two months of the year, airBaltic's performance has been good, but due to the increase in fuel costs due to the war in the Middle East, a decision has been made to provide a loan, which the company has requested.

The final word on this is up to the Saeima – and a stormy debate is likely with elections looming in the Autumn.

Speaking to LTV, Siliņa stressed that airBaltic's existence is a boon to the wider Latvian economy and also that things such as recent repatriation flights paid for by the government proved that in a crisis situation it has additional value.

"Our residents were happy that we could organize these repatriation flights so that they could return, and that was in part due to the fact that airBaltic was ready to fly, when not all airlines were ready to fly to not completely safe countries," said the Prime Minister.

"Personally I think it is important for Latvia, for everyone," said Siliņa, adding that air traffic to Rīga brings in more than a hundred million euros to the wider economy every year.

"We should understand that airBaltic is not asking for a long-term grant," she said, describing the loan as a "short-term solution" while admitting that other financial support measures might be necessary in future.

The government decided on Tuesday, March 31st, to pass on to Saeima airBaltic's request to provide it with a short-term loan of 30 million euros.

The decision was made to mitigate the financial impact triggered by American and Israeli attacks on Iran and the spread of the conflict to the wider Middle East region, which has had a serious impact on aviation with routes closed and fuel prices soaring.