Airbaltic was recovering after making certain adjustments to its business plan and proved in summer that it was able to operate successfully, the news portal vz.lt quoted the minister. However, Latvia sought to attract private capital, he said.
Riga would first hold talks with private investors, Ronis said. However, he would not rule out a possibility to establish a joint Lithuanian-Latvian-Estonian airline company.
“We are satisfied with the current performance of Airbaltic. We are now looking at potential investors and we have never ruled out a possibility for two more Baltic countries to become the shareholders, of course, if we could find the terms that will be acceptable to all parties. If Lithuania remains interested after the elections and Estonia stays interested as well, we are ready to discuss such a possibility,” the minister said speaking about a proposal by Lithuania’s Transport Minister Eligijus Masiulis to establish a joint airline company in the future.
The most important thing was to assess the economic benefits of this project and to outline its clear outlook, Ronis said.
Masiulis proposed to Latvia and Estonia to reopen discussions and to make new assessments into the benefits of establishing the joint airline company.
