airBaltic Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in the US
· 1 min read
Latvia's flag carrier airBaltic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, along with two subsidiaries: airBaltic Training and Baltic Cargo Center.
If you've got a flight booked, thankfully nothing changes on your end: the airline says scheduled flights, ticket sales, reservations, and existing vouchers all remain valid and unaffected throughout the process.
The filing comes after months of mounting financial pressure on the airline, most recently a spike in fuel costs tied to the Iran war, which airBaltic says ate into the cushion from a €30 million Latvian government loan back in April.
airBaltic is trimming its all-Airbus A220-300 fleet from 54 down to 36 by the end of this year, with plans to grow back to around 40 by 2031. The airline carried 5.2 million passengers in 2025 on €779.3 million in revenue, but still posted a €44.3 million net loss.
Chapter 11 sounds scarier than it is here — this is a US legal tool for restructuring debt while a company keeps flying. This is not a liquidation, and airBaltic is following the same path that SAS took a few years ago. That said, with a smaller fleet, we may see the airline cut routes and adjust schedules over the coming months.
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