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Lufthansa Group announced today that it was investing €14 million to acquire a 10% stake in Baltic carrier, airBaltic. This investment builds on the strategic partnership already in place between Lufthansa Group (Austrian, Brussels, SWISS, etc.) and airBaltic. While this is a minority stake, could Lufthansa eventually absorb the carrier into its ever-growing portfolio?
In Europe, there are three major airline groups. These include Air France-KLM (with its SkyTeam affiliated airlines), IAG (with oneworld® carriers), and Lufthansa Group (with an assortment of Star Alliance members). The deal provides airBaltic with needed funding for growth and expansion of its wet lease agreements. In addition to its stake, Lufthansa Group will secure a seat on airBaltic’s board.
airBaltic is the leading airline in the Baltics and a hybrid of traditional network and low-cost carriers. It serves more than 130 routes with over 70 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Caucasus from Riga Airport (RIX), Tallinn Airport (TLL), Vilnius International Airport (VNO), Tampere-Pirkkala Airport (TMP), and, seasonally, Gran Canaria Airport (LPA). The airline was founded in 1995 and operates one of Europe’s youngest fleets with 49 Airbus A220-300 aircraft. In November 2023, it was the largest operator in the world of this type of aircraft. We flew airBaltic from Tallinn Airport (TLL) and to Vilnius International Airport (VNO) a few years ago and had a great experience (we were the only passengers in the Business Class cabin on one flight).
Lufthansa and airBaltic have had a wet lease partnership for several years. airBaltic operates flights on behalf of Lufthansa with its own crews and aircraft. This was recently extended three years past summer 2025 and Lufthansa will have 21 of airBaltic’s 49 aircraft flying this summer.
This could be a simple investment that larger airlines like to make (Delta has made many) or it could be the start of something bigger. Lufthansa recently completed its purchase of a stake in ITA Airways and that carrier is shifting from SkyTeam to Star Alliance. Cozying up to airBaltic might also be a way for Lufthansa to plug some holes left by the departure of SAS last year.
Anthony’s Take: This is just a purchase of a minority stake for now. It could be as simple as that. We’ll see if Lufthansa moves to absorb the airline and if regulators allow another to join its portfolio.
(Image Credits: airBaltic.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
