Air Baltic’s all-A220 fleet to help it ‘fly out’ of crisis: chief

Air Baltic CE Martin Gauss has reaffirmed the carrier’s commitment to an IPO, and expressed confidence that its strategy to become an all-Airbus A220 operator makes it “well-positioned” to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis. The airline has also announced that it will begin flights from Riga to Dubai in September. The service will be operated four times a week and will replace Air Baltic’s Riga-Abu Dhabi route. Gauss said Air Baltic’s single-aircraft fleet means it is “well-positioned to fly out of this crisis” because of the A220’s lower operating costs and flexibility to operate both short- and longer-range routes. The carrier has 25 A220-300s – two of which are listed by Cirium as being in storage – and a further 25 on order. It has options and letters of intent on an additional 30 of the type. Air Baltic in November appointed Jetcraft Commercial to sub-lease 11 of its De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprops, as part of its plan to become an all-A220 operator. The A220 is “the right size” because it makes it “much easier to open up a route again” as travel restrictions ease, and it can be used to operate high-frequency short-haul routes, such as Vilnius-Tallinn, as well as longer-range routes, like Air Baltic’s upcoming Dubai service, says Gauss.<br/>