The airline is in a dispute with Bombardier that could threaten its rights issue bailout from the Estonian government.

TALLINN — Estonian Air released its 2009 numbers on Thursday, posting -69.4 million krooni (-€4.4 million) with a loss derived from the end of the lease term of two planes.

The report confirms the June 26 article in the Postimees newspaper which through anonymous sources said the airline posted a large loss in 2009.

The carrier’s consolidated net sales in 2009 were 978.4 million krooni (€62.5 million), the least of the last five years and 32 percent smaller than 2008. However, the overall loss was significantly smaller compared to the -170.5 million krooni (-€10.9 million) the company posted in 2008. Also temporary costs related to returning two Boeing 737-500 airplanes after the end of the lease term reached up to 39 million krooni (€2.5 million) which makes more than half of 2009 loss. Another 10 million krooni (€639,114) went for exceptional restructuring costs.

The carrier was forced to cut down the number of flights to 10,132 which is 16 percent less than it was a year before. Also the number of passengers declined by 25.6 percent to 562,719. The company cut 207 jobs within the year.

The current year’s results largely will be affected by the agreement with Canadian plane manufacturer Bombardier, from whom three CRJ-900NG aircraft were ordered. The carrier already paid 172 million krooni (€11 million) for the planes, but where the carrier will pay rest of the debt, up to 1 billion krooni (€64 million), is unknown. As Estonian Air and Bombardier have still not found an agreement on the payment timetable, then the arrival of the planes have delayed. The planes should have arrived to the carrier’s fleet park in 2009, but the agreement between the companies may not be reached before the end of 2010. In the worst case, Estonian Air may lose the 172 million krooni payment, which however is unlikely.

According to Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, the uncertainty is causing the government to second-guess its proposed rights issue bailout of the troubled carrier.

“As long as this question is not completely clear, then Estonian government and SAS cannot sign the Estonian Air’s shareholders agreement,” Ainsip told the press.

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