airBaltic Places Incremental Order for 30 Airbus A220-300s, Will Become Largest European Operator

airBaltic has ordered 30 More Airbus A220-300s and will become the largest European operator of the type.  The incremental order expands the carrier’s total firm A220 orderbook to 80 aircraft.

airBaltic Airbus A220-300 - Courtesy Airbus

On Monday (November 13, 2023), from the Dubai Airshow 2023, Airbus announced that airBaltic has placed an incremental order for 30 A220-300s, solidifying their position as Europe’s largest operator of the type.  The new order expands the carrier’s A220-300 orderbook to 80 aircraft.  Currently, airBaltic operates a fleet of 44 Airbus A220-300s, making them the largest A220-300 operator in the world.  AirBaltic was the launch customer for the A220-300 in 2016, and in 2020 refreshed their fleet to solely operate this aircraft type.

In Monday’s order announcement, airBaltic’s President and CEO, Martin Gauss, said,

“This day marks a significant milestone in the history of airBaltic – our plans for the first time ever to operate a fleet of 100 aircraft by 2030.  For almost seven years already, the Airbus A220-300 has been the backbone of our operations and has played an integral role in the international success story of airBaltic.  Being the global launch customer of the Airbus A220-300, we continue to be a proud ambassador of it.  We are grateful to our partners at Airbus for the incredible support, trust, and collaboration over these years.” 

Also commenting on the incremental A220-300 order, Airbus’ Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International, Christian Scherer, added,

“Thank you to airBaltic for being such an ambassador for the A220 with this repeat order.  The A220 has been the instrument for airBaltic in its success and growth thus far and we are particularly proud to be extending this partnership well into the future with this latest order.  The A220 offers a unique capability in terms of range, performance, and not to forget, passenger appeal. It is a gamechanger for our customers in this important market segment, which we are serving with less fuel-burn, lower emissions and noise, making the A220 a global citizen of choice.”

The state-of-the-art Airbus A220-300 is the most modern airliner in its class and can carry between 120-150 passengers on flights up to 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km).  The aircraft also offers a 25 percent reduction in fuel burn and CO2 emissions compared to previous generation aircraft.  As of October 31, 2023, the A220 Family had won close to 820 orders from around 30 customers worldwide, of which 295 have been delivered.  The Airbus A220 is currently in passenger revenue service with 17 airlines on over 1,350 routes.

Established in 1995, Air Baltic Corporation SA (airBaltic) is a joint stock company with most of the equity (97.97%) held by the Latvian state and the remaining 2.03 percent held by other shareholders.  One of the most punctual carriers in the world, the airline connects the Baltic region with over 100 routes from Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius and Tampere to Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus region with a fleet of 44 Airbus A220-300s.  The airline Group also includes Air Baltic Training SIA, Loyalty Services SIA, Baltijas Kravu Centrs SIA and Crew Resources AS.  airBaltic currently employs 2,360 team members and aims to surpass the 2,500 employee mark by the end of 2023. 

Source: airBaltic