Blade’s Q1 revenues inch up
Blade Air Mobility kicked off 2025 with mixed results as the company reported $54.3m in first quarter (Q1) total revenue, representing a 5% increase over last year. Net losses narrowed by 17.5% year-on-year (YoY) but revenues remained flat in the medical sector.
Speaking on an earnings call, CEO Robert Wiesenthal characterised the quarter as “an excellent start to the year with revenue growth of 11% excluding Canada and a $2.3m YoY improvement in adjusted EBITDA.” This improvement in adjusted EBITDA reflects the company’s 65% reduction in losses compared with Q1 2024, though the figure remains negative at $1.24m.
The passenger segment emerged as the key growth driver for Blade’s quarterly performance, helping the company achieve its first segment adjusted EBITDA profitable first quarter since going public. Passenger flight profit surged 92% to $4.04m, with segment margin expanding dramatically from 13.6% to 22%.
European operations proved particularly successful following recent restructuring efforts. “Results in Europe following our restructuring led to strong revenue growth and significantly improved profitability this quarter,” Wiesenthal said. This contributed to the $2.7m improvement in passenger segment adjusted EBITDA versus the prior year. The medical segment presented a more challenging picture, with revenue remaining essentially flat at $36m.
“Medical revenue came in roughly flat year-over-year at $35.9m,” said William Heyburn, chief financial officer while adding that the “medical segment adjusted EBITDA margin fell 80 basis points year-over-year to 11.4%”.
Despite the flat quarter for medical services, management said it remains optimistic. “After a flattish result in Q1 2025, we expect single-digit medical revenue growth in Q2 2025, with strong growth in the second half of the year,” it said. This projection is underpinned by recent business developments as the company began “service with two new large hospitals on April 1st, as expected, contributing to an all-time record for trip volumes in April”.
Blade’s “Jet and Other” category delivered impressive 60% YoY growth to $9.1m, which Heyburn attributed to “strength in both flight volume and revenue per flight”. Short distance revenue declined 5% overall to $9.3m.
Despite the relatively slight uptick in total revenue, the company did manage to contain costs, which were up by a meagre 2% YoY. This translated into better gross margins which clocked in at $8.1m – a jump of 38.3% YoY.
Overall, the company managed to narrow its gross loss by 17.5% YoY to $3.5m during the quarter under review.
Sharing its outlook, the company said it maintains its previous full-year guidance, continuing to expect “double-digit revenue growth for the year” in the medical sector. But Heyburn cautioned about “the risk that margins could come in slightly below our full-year target due to the timing of maintenance completed during the year.”
The company’s revenue guidance for 2025 was $245-265m.
From a cash perspective, Blade ended the quarter with a solid footing with $120m on hand following cost rationalisation initiatives. Heyburn confirmed the company “continue[s] to expect to generate positive free cash flow before aircraft acquisitions barring any large unforeseen nonrecurring items.”
