The German group also cited rising costs linked to recent strikes, which on Wednesday overshadowed the airline’s 100th anniversary celebrations.
Legacy airline groups aren’t the only ones struggling with the impact of high fuel prices on their balance sheets.
Budget airline easyJet said Thursday that its fuel costs had risen by almost €29 million in March alone, and that its before-tax losses were expected to increase to between €620 million and €640 million in the six months to March, up from €450 million a year earlier.
Latvian carrier airBaltic is also in a critical situation and is dependent on financial support.
Prime Minister Evika Siliņa had said Wednesday she was ready to face “the collapse of the coalition” in light of the reluctance of her ruling partners to approve a €30 million loan the airline requested at the end of March.
Although airBaltic’s difficulties predate the Middle East war, ratings agency Fitch warned that rising fuel prices were putting further pressure on the carrier’s liquidity, noting it had “hedged only around 10 percent of its 2026 fuel consumption.”
The Latvian government on Thursday secured the loan for the carrier.
