Lithuania would consider buying a stake in financially troubled Latvian airline airBaltic if Riga makes a formal proposal, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said Thursday, while his Latvian counterpart suggested discussing a joint Baltic airline.
“We are ready to consider any proposal from Latvia, but we will assess it in the context of security, price and other nationally important strategic projects,” Sinkevičius told reporters in Riga after meeting Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs.
“We can probably consider an investment in airBaltic, but it must have an economic and security component and other aspects. Lithuania is ready to consider the proposal when the Latvian side is ready to submit one,” he said.
Sinkevičius described the issue as complicated because of airBaltic’s difficult financial position. He said he had been asked whether Lithuania would consider becoming a shareholder under a model similar to Scandinavian Airlines, which is jointly owned by several Scandinavian countries.
Kulbergs said he had proposed discussing the creation of a joint Baltic airline involving Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia once airBaltic’s immediate problems have been resolved.
