airBaltic preliminary first quarter revenue up 26%, reaching $140 million

airBaltic have revealed its preliminary first quarter 2024 results ahead of the full release, revealing its revenues were up 26% to €132.3 million ($141.6 million). ""Current indicators reflect that throughout the first quarter of 2024, airBaltic has continued to demonstrate strong financial and operational performance,"" said airBaltic CEO and president Martin Gauss. ""Our early results indicate a good quarter, thanks to adding more flights, improving our operations, and focusing on serving our customers better."" In the first quarter, the Latvian flag carrier's passenger numbers increased by 20% to 926,000, along with its flights up 11% to 9,600. Its available seat kilometres (ASKs) were up 30% to 1.9bn along with its load factor being up 4.9 percentage points to 75.9%. The company also confirmed that the company's initial public offering (IPO) is still in progress. Gauss said: ""Looking ahead to 2024, we continue on our successful course towards the potential IPO as early as the second half of the year."" airBaltic said it will publish its full financial results for the first quarter of the year, along with the investor call, on May 22. The airline also launched direct flights from Tampere to Palma de Mallorca, which will operate twice a week until October 2024. ""Tampere is one of airBaltic's home cities, and we are dedicated to improving connectivity from there to offer our customers more travel options,"" said airBaltic senior vice president network management Thomas Ramdahl. The route will be serviced by its A220-300 aircraft.