It is "most likely inevitable" that Air Baltic will need extra cash from the Latvian state as it seeks to achieve sustainable profitability amid efforts to close a public float, its chair Klavs Vasks has indicated. In a LinkedIn post dated 2 January, Vasks writes that talks with a strategic investor, which would and underpin an IPO, "have not gone as smoothly as hoped", adding: "In order for Air Baltic to be ready for an IPO, bold and thoughtful decisions by politicians are needed. "Although the injection of additional capital from the state may lead to a new local 'PR crisis', the need for investment is most likely inevitable unless the state is ready to completely abandon its investment in favour of other investors." In particular, he observes that Air Baltic's heavy debt burden is subject to interest rates that are unsustainable in the long term, and that the airline "cannot continue to operate with negative equity that has been accumulated for years". The earliest possible date for the airline's IPO is now spring 2025, he says. Timing depends on negotiations with the strategic investor and market conditions at the time. Securing the investor is critical to validating the airline's business model and to executing the IPO, he adds. Responding to comments on the post, Vasks defends Air Baltic's record, noting that many airlines have been impacted by the same engine maintenance issues and that a decision to wet-lease out many of its aircraft was necessary to bring in revenue and minimise the need for extra cash. He writes that while "the IPO looks real at the moment", it would likely require the Latvian state to co-invest alongside private investors. Separately, Latvia's minister of economics has called for the removal of Air Baltic chief executive Martin Gauss, following the cancellation of swathes of the airline's summer services. On 2 January, the airline said it would cut 4,670 flights across the peak flying period – around a full month of flying for the airline – by axing 19 routes entirely and cutting frequencies on a further 21. The action is framed by the airline as a response to enhanced engine maintenance checks which are grounding much of its fleet, a longstanding issue. "The chief executive of the company must take responsibility in this situation," minister Viktors Valainis said on television on 3 January, according to Latvian news website LSM+. "The company is very good, but public confidence in the management of the company has been lost for some time and the only way to restore confidence is by appointing new management." He added that the long-awaited IPO, until recently pencilled in for launch in 2024, had been "constantly postponed", and expressed doubt that the airline's development plan was "even being implemented". Valainis plans to ask Latvia's transport minister to "objectively assess" Gauss's position. Gauss has led Air Baltic since November 2011. The airline received Latvian state support of €340 million ($354 million) amid the pandemic but has struggled to achieve profitability since. Despite reporting in November a slim net profit for the third quarter, it said that its full-year results would be impacted by "difficult macroeconomic conditions in the Baltic states" and withdrew guidance for €200-€220 million in EBITDAR earnings.

Iceland has become Eurocontrol's 42nd member state and the first to join the air traffic manager in a decade. Eurocontrol says the country is already well integrated into Europe in terms of air navigation, through membership in the European Economic Area, the Schengen Area, and the European Free Trade Association, and has been closely co-operating with it for 25 years. It adds that Iceland has been participating as an observer in its provisional council meetings since 1998 and signed the transitional agreement in 2022, paving the way for full membership. Throughout, Iceland and Eurocontrol have been working closely together at the operational level on network matters – exchanging data, co-ordinating traffic flows, and liaising on airspace matters, it notes. "The accession of Iceland is testament to the huge amount of work that has happened on both sides since the formal exchange of letters in August 2020 launching the accession process," states Eurocontrol director general Raul Medina. "It is excellent news for the agency and for the European aviation network as a whole."

South Korean authorities have extended by a week the inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800s in the country, to 10 January, following the fatal crash of a Jeju Air aircraft on 29 December. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport did not give a reason for the extension of checks across six airlines operating the type in a 3 January statement. Investigators have completed converting data from the Jeju Air aircraft's cockpit voice recorder into audio files and are in the process of transcribing them, the ministry says. The flight data recorder will be transported to the USA on 6 January for data retrieval. It was earlier reported that local authorities were unable to retrieve data from the flight data recorder as it was damaged in the crash. A total of 23 investigators from Korea and the USA are looking into the crash on-site. There are 12 members from Korea's Aircraft Railroad Accident Investigation Board, six investigators from Boeing, three from the US National Transportation Safety Board, one from the US Federal Aviation Administration and a representative from engine maker GE Aerospace. Jeju Air flight 7C2216 made a wheels-up landing in Muan, overshot the runway and crashed into a concrete perimeter wall, killing all but two of the flight's 181 occupants. South Korean authorities have launched an investigation into "the location and materials of navigation safety facilities around runways" at airports throughout the country, the ministry says. Jeju Air has come under pressure over the accident. The carrier on 31 December said that it would "strive to strengthen operational stability" by reducing the number of flights by 10% to 15% during the winter season, which ends in March. At a 2 January briefing, a Jeju Air representative said cuts for domestic flights could happen as soon as the following week and international flights during the third week of January, reports Yonhap news.