airBaltic's shareholders approved on July 15, a EUR250 million euro (USD285 million) capital injection by the state, clearing the way for the airline's bailout.
The bailout was already approved by the Supervisory Board in late April and by the European Commission earlier this month.
airBaltic's largest shareholder is the government of Latvia with an 80% stake. It therefore had enough voting power to approve the bailout by itself. The remaining 20% stake is owned by Danish businessman Lars Thuesen through his wholly-owned Aircraft Leasing 1 SIA.
The carrier plans to use the funds to finance its post-COVID development. While the Latvian carrier expects demand to remain dampened during 2020 and 2021, it hopes to resume growth in 2022 and increase its fleet of twenty-two A220-300s to 50 of the type by the end of 2023. It also has options for a further 30.
