Ursula Silling, CEO at Branchspace, asks Martin Gauss, CEO at Air Baltic, about his recipe for success.   

The conversation covers topics such as how Air Baltic manages to keep innovation going, why can Air Baltic claim to be the greenest airline, how did Martin manage to convince staff to become a Covid Free company, other innovations as well as Martin as a person and his perspective on the future of the aviation industry. Martin has been CEO at Air Baltic for more than 10 years. He plans for an IPO for Air Baltic post pandemic.  

Innovation is part of the Air Baltic DNA. Next to the 100% vaccination company there have been many others. In 2014, Air Baltic already built on the Blockchain advantage and introduced bitcoin as a payment method. In 2012 they had a vision for a new modern and sustainable fleet and see the positive impact now with the implementation, with latest aircraft from Airbus.   

The outlook for the future of aviation? Martin is convinced that 2019 levels will come back once there will be more stability in terms of the Covid impact. But customers will think more about travel and take more conscious decisions, and the mix of customers and reasons for travel will change and be more biased towards leisure travel, continuing the current trend.  

This audio was recorded at the Branchspace booth at the Aviation Festival in London on December 1, 2021. Air Baltic is the Latvian national carrier. In 2008, Air Baltic changed its operating model from a point-to-point carrier to a network airline making Riga a connecting hub. The airline offers low-fare tickets in its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS and the Middle East. The prices are competitive not only with other airlines, but also with the prices of bus, car, train or ferry travel. Tickets are available not only for direct but also for transfer flights. Their values cover three key areas: delivery, customer care and sustainability, growth.