Just one year on from celebrating its 30th anniversary, Latvian flag carrier, airBaltic has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. The airline is seeking to restructure a heavy debt burden amid soaring fuel costs, engine shortages and geopolitical disruption. Majority‑owned by the Latvian state, airBaltic says flights and services will continue as normal while it negotiates with creditors and reshapes its business plan under court supervision.
Cargo is also part of that restructuring but (like its passenger flights) will continue for now. airBaltic’s cargo activities are modest in scale: charter, cargo and mail together account for roughly 3% of revenue, generated mainly from belly-hold freight on scheduled passenger flights and from cargo handling at Riga Airport. Its subsidiary Baltijas Kravu Centrs (BKC) is the airport’s largest handler by turnover and processed around 10,379 tons of cargo and mail in 2025, generating about EUR 6.2 million in cargo revenue, in a brand-new Baltic Cargo Hub that opened that year, in MAY25. It remains part of the operational footprint and underpins the airline’s ambition to grow e‑commerce and mail flows via Riga.
The U.S. court has authorized airBaltic to keep trading in the ordinary course and approved up to €350 million in debtor‑in‑possession financing to fund day‑to‑day operations through the process. That structure is designed to preserve continuity for customers, suppliers and partners, including cargo agents and forwarders.
Restructuring is planned to run until around mid‑2027, during which airBaltic will renegotiate aircraft leases, defer or cancel new deliveries and potentially review non‑core activities. Cargo’s small revenue share could mean that it is scaled back or refocused if the revised network or liquidity profile makes certain activities less attractive, though airBaltic’s message, right now, is clear: operations, including cargo, continue while the airline works to emerge leaner and financially stronger. Erno Hildén, President and Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic, commented: “The Court’s decisions are an important first step in our financial reorganization, allowing us to continue operating while moving forward with the restructuring. The approval of our DIP financing provides additional financial stability as we work to build a stronger and more sustainable airBaltic. For our passengers, employees and partners, our focus remains unchanged: we continue flying and serving our customers as normal.
