AirBaltic plans regional expansion with Airbus A220 order

AirBaltic Corp AS is doubling down on its all-Airbus SE A220 fleet, with the Latvian carrier placing its fourth follow-on order for the model to help accelerate growth in its home market. 

The carrier firmed up options for an additional 10 jets to its previous 30-plane order announced in Dubai in 2023, AirBaltic said in a statement Tuesday. The airline already operates a fleet of 48 A220s, and the new batch will be delivered from 2026, it said.

Latvia’s flagship carrier is one of the biggest operators of the A220, with plans to grow the fleet to almost 100 aircraft. Chief Executive Officer Martin Gauss has been a strong advocate for the A220, describing the model as the “backbone” of AirBaltic’s operations.

“We will in the future secure more and then these 100 airplanes are supposed to expand our operations from the Baltics,” Gauss said in an interview.

AirBaltic plans to base more aircraft in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania and expand further into the Nordics as the fleet grows. The company will also increase flight frequencies from destinations where it makes sense, Gauss said.

The airline is among carriers impacted by the Pratt & Whitney engine issues afflicting Airbus aircraft. Gauss said in July that the situation was improving, with fewer jets on the ground compared with last summer.

AirBaltic plans to go ahead with a potential IPO in the second half of the year after recording its first annual profit since 2018. The Latvian state owns almost 98% of AirBaltic’s shares.