Despite the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a huge blow to the aviation industry, sustainability will continue to play an important role in the future after the virus pandemic, said Martins Gauss, Chairman of the Board of airBaltic, at the Riga Aviation Forum “RAF 2020” on Wednesday.
He noted that the aviation industry has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past eight months, so that previously airBaltic stood out for growth and sustainability, it is now in a dramatic situation, as are the rest of the world’s airlines.
Gauss also emphasized that airBaltic had so far managed to position itself as climate-friendly and sustainable, but with the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline had to stop working, which had a significant impact on the Latvian economy.
He said the pandemic had dealt a severe blow to the entire aviation industry worldwide. “All headlines in the media are no longer about sustainability, but about survival,” Gauss said, adding that airlines now need to protect jobs and continue to fly within the limits of the virus.
Gauss also said that sustainability was still important, despite the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and that it would be even more important after the crisis.
The head of airBaltic pointed out that the airline’s new business plan “Destination 2020 Clean”, adapted to the current situation, also emphasizes climate and sustainability.
He acknowledged that this is an important step forward in creating a company’s business strategy in which one of the goals of sustainability is to become even more environmentally friendly. Gauss also linked sustainability to connectivity. “Connectivity is important to continue connecting the Baltic States to the world,” he said.
Gauss said that airBaltic’s sustainability goals also included job creation, including the fact that so far airBaltic was responsible for creating 30,000 jobs in Latvia. “We don’t want to stop this work, we want to continue,” he added.
Gauss also pointed out that airBaltic has used five types of aircraft so far, but in the future will focus on only one type of aircraft – the Airbus A220-300, which will help save 82% fuel. At the same time, airBaltic will continue to invest in electric motors.
Gauss expressed confidence that the crisis would be overcome, as the aviation industry has been able to do for the past 100 years.
He also stressed that airBaltic will continue to grow.
It has already been reported that the airBaltic Group’s turnover in the first half of this year decreased by 63.6% to 78.713 million euros due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while the group’s losses increased almost seven times and amounted to 184.77 million euros. In the first half of the year, airBaltic carried 810,317 passengers, which was 64% less than in the corresponding period last year. The number of flights decreased by 58% to 12,501.
It was also reported that airBaltic’s audited turnover last year was 503.281 million euros, which is 23.1% more than in 2018, but the company suffered a loss of 7.729 million euros compared to the profit a year earlier.
The Latvian state owns 96.14% of the voting rights in the capital of airBaltic, but the financial investor, Danish businessman Lars Tusen, owns Aircraft Leasing 1 – 3.86%.
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