Latvia: Lufthansa may invest in airBaltic: report

German airline Lufthansa may invest in Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, according to Bloomberg, LETA reports. Sources said that negotiations on the deal were still at an early stage. Earlier, German news agency dpa cited Lufthansa’s CEO, Jens Ritter, who said that the company was interested in another airline operating its shorter routes, LSM reported. One potential partner mentioned was airBaltic. The two airlines have a codeshare agreement. Also, airBaltic has leasing agreements with Lufthansa Group companies, including SWISS and Discover Airlines. LTV reported that the unnamed strategic investor could buy 10% of airBaltic’s shares ahead of the company’s planned IPO later in 2024. Martin Gauss, airBaltic’s German CEO, said that the potential investor would be “a big positive surprise,” while Economy Minister Viktors Valainis said that the investor was a “well-known company.”