airBaltic carried 4,135,711 passengers on its network last year, up 17 per cent on the previous year.

It is the highest number of passengers carried in airline’s history.

Martin Gauss, chief executive of airBaltic, said: “Our airline has a strong and efficient hybrid business model, loyal passengers and dedicated employees.

“In addition to our new aircraft, we were able to continue our sustainable growth and build the groundwork for future success.”

He added: “In 2019, we will continue to grow, by adding at least six new routes and additional capacities on various other destinations.

“From Riga, we will launch flights to Dublin, Stuttgart and Lviv.

“We will continue to grow our presence also in Tallinn, by adding flights to Malaga, Brussels and Copenhagen.”

In 2018, airBaltic operated a total of 56,261 flights or 12 per cent more than in 2017.

The airline’s load factor, which represents the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of available seats, was at a level of 75 per cent in 2018.

Earlier this month it was announced that Latvian airline airBaltic has retained its place as the most punctual airline in Europe and is the second most punctual in the world according to the OAG analysts.

They tracked the performance of over 58 million flight records in 2018 to create a ranking of the best on-time performance for the world’s largest airlines and airports.

airBaltic has been on the top of the global on-time performance ranking for the past five consecutive years.