Latvia’s Air Baltic remained profitable over the first nine months of the year, although it recorded a substantial fall in net profit for the third quarter.

The airline’s interim chief, Pauls Calitis, says the carrier is continuing to experience a “complex environment” which is “shaped by engine supply constraints and cost pressures”.

It generated a €6 million ($6.9 million) net profit in the three months to 30 September, compared with a figure of more than €40 million last year.

Although passenger numbers were down by 5% – a decline Calitis attributes to “network optimisations” – revenues increased by 3.7% to nearly €245 million.

Despite the weaker profit performance in the quarter, the carrier managed to stay in the black for the first nine months.

Air Baltic turned in a net profit of €4.2 million, a contrast to the previous €48.5 million loss.

While its adjusted nine-month EBITDAR figure declined by €30 million, to €129 million, the carrier expects this to improve to €160-170 million for the full year, based on revenues of €780-790 million.

Forward bookings for the fourth quarter are above last year’s level and yield trends “continue to show improvement”, it states.

Air Baltic is also maintaining its targets to increase capacity by 5% across its network and 20% for its wet-lease activity – an outlook, it says, which “assumes gradual improvement in engine availability”.

“Looking ahead, our priority is to maintain operational resilience and financial stability, ensuring Air Baltic can continue delivering reliable services despite market challenges,” says Calitis.