13.08.2024 21:00 – Europe
Latvian Airlines airBaltic exercised her option from last year’s Dubai Air Show and made a binding order another ten Airbus A220-300s. Airbus said this is the airline’s fourth A220 order.
With this latest contract, airBaltic has increased the total number of A220-300s on order to 90 aircraft. This number could increase to a hundred in the future, as the company still has an option from last year for ten A220 aircraft.
AirBaltic – Airbus A220-300 (photo: airBaltic)
Martin Gauss, President and CEO of airBaltic, stated: “For the first time in the company’s history, airBaltic plans to operate a fleet of nearly 100 A220-300 aircraft, and the exercised purchase options are another step in the right direction. This aircraft type has played an integral role in airBaltic’s international success. By exercising these options, we reinforce our unwavering support and confidence in the A220 program and look forward to expanding our fleet in the coming years.“
airBaltic currently operates 48 Airbus A220-300s, making it currently the largest operator of this version of the A220 not only in Europe, but also in the world. Including the smaller A220-100 version, only the American Delta Air Lines operates more A220 aircraft.
The first Airbus A220-300 appeared in airBaltic’s fleet in 2016, making the company the first operator of A220-300 aircraft in the world. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline unified its fleet on this type, which helped increase operational efficiency.
The Airbus A220 is the most modern airliner in its class, capable of carrying 120 to 150 passengers on flights of up to 3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km). It has the largest and most comfortable cabin, seats and windows in its class, ensuring excellent passenger comfort. Combining state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest generation GTF™ engines, the A220 delivers customers 50% lower noise compared to previous generation aircraft and around 40% lower NOx emissions than industry standards. The aircraft offers 25% lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per seat compared to previous generation aircraft. Like all Airbus aircraft, the A220 is already capable of operating with up to 50% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Airbus aims for all aircraft produced to be capable of operating at up to 100% SAF by 2030.
However, Czech social networks are currently filled with somewhat different news about airBaltic. The company decided to name each of its aircraft in the fleet after a municipality located in one of the three Baltic countries. The name of one seaside village of 3,000 people in the Estonian region of Lääne-Virumaa has caught the attention of Czech social media users so much that they are stirring up their recession to participate in online voting. The dream of Czech residents is not only to have one of the Air Baltic planes named after this village (the kind reader will find out for himself), but also to be used on routes to Prague. The biggest wish is a photo of a recessist boarding a plane with this name. Due to the possible naming of one A220-300 aircraft after a small Estonian village with the largest cement plant in the country, Air Baltic may inadvertently significantly increase interest in flights from Prague to the Baltic countries. It will be interesting to see how the whole poll turns out.
Airbus A220-300 of Air Baltic, April 2022 (Photo: Anna Zvereva/Wikimedia Commons – CC-BY-SA-2.0)
