airBaltic takes delivery of its 19th Airbus A220 aircraft

Half of the Latvian hybrid airline’s passengers now utilise the A220 (airBaltic)

Latvia’s hybrid airline airBaltic has grown its A220 fleet to 19 jets, as half of the airline’s passengers now fly on the type

airBaltic took delivery of its 19th Airbus A220-300 jet (registered as YL-AAS) on May 25. It is the fifth A220 received this year and three more will join the Baltics’ largest airline’s fleet by the end of this year.

Since the launch of the type’s operations in December 2016, the Riga-based carrier has transported more than 2.6 million passengers on the A220-300 (formerly known as the Bombardier CSeries 300) with every second airBaltic passenger utilising the aircraft. Collectively, the A220s have completed more than 27,000 flights and flown more than 69,000 block hours.

The company says that the A220 has performed beyond its expectations, delivering better overall performance and fuel efficiency. To harmonise its fleet, airBaltic is to end its Boeing 737CL operations in the autumn of this year.

airBaltic’s fleet currently consists of 39 aircraft: 19 Airbus A220-300s, eight Boeing 737s and 12 Bombardier Q400Next Gen turboprops.

In the four months since the start of 2019 Latvia’s flag carrier has served 1.2 million passengers, 15 per cent more than a year ago.