Reaching for the stars.

Latvian airline airBaltic was founded in 1995. Its primary shareholder is the Latvian state, which holds 80.05% of the stock, while Lars Thuesen holds around 20% through his fully-owned Aircraft Leasing 1 SIA. airBaltic is a hybrid airline taking the best practices both from traditional network airlines and low cost carriers. In 2008, airBaltic changed its operating model from a point-to-point carrier to a network airline making Riga a connecting hub between East and West. The top priorities of airBaltic are – safety, punctuality and service.

Mr. Martin Gauss serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer at airBaltic since November 2011. Under the leadership of Martin Gauss, airBaltic has been successfully restructured and reached sustainable profitability. Today airBaltic is the regional market leader serving over 4.1 million passengers.

Martin Gauss is a professional with more than 27 years of experience in the aviation industry. He began his career in 1992 as a B737 pilot of the British Airways subsidiary Deutsche BA. By 1995, he was working in the management of the airline. In 2004, after the sale of Deutsche BA to Intro Group, Martin Gauss became joint Managing Director of Deutsche BA (dba) and was responsible for the re-launch of the airline. Under his leadership, dba became profitable and in 2006, dba was sold to Air Berlin. Mr. Gauss has also held CEO positions in Cirrus Group and Malev Hungarian Airlines. Martin Gauss still holds a Boeing 737 Captain License.