Airbus A220s Removed From Airline

airBaltic has shrunk its A220 fleet by returning two units to their lessor ahead of schedule. This comes amid warning signs from the Latvian Prime Minister.

While airbaltic has wanted to scale its fleet quite considerably, many have labelled those ambitions unrealistic amid a much tougher operating environment that threatens the airline’s operations.

The move, which was mutually agreed upon, reduces the in-service A220 fleet and lowers the number of active A220-300 units from 54 to 52. However, more deeply, it’s part of a broader business change being pushed by the Latvian Government.

The airBaltic A220 Change

airBaltic confirmed that two of its A220-300s were handed back to a leasing company earlier than expected, as reported by local Latvian media following a joint review of the airline’s capacity needs.

The decision does not affect the current ability to operate the network, according to the head of public relations, Augusts Ziberts, and the scheduled implementation will proceed with the remaining aircraft.

Even with the reduction of its Airbus A220s, airBaltic intends to continue deploying the single-aisle aircraft on wet-lease ACMI contracts across the Lufthansa Group. This move ensures that planes surplus to its requirements can generate third-party revenue.

With the two A220s leaving the airline, Zilberts also confirmed to Latvian news agency LETA that no further deliveries are planned for the remainder of the calendar year.

The reassessment of capacity is in light of current macroeconomic conditions, further heightened by fuel price fluctuations and geopolitical uncertainty, which are impacting demand and profitability across specific routes.

Put simply, airBaltic has found that demand growth has not been occurring as forecast, and that growth has been softer and much more volatile than estimated, resulting in costs increasing quite sharply. As a result, trimming the fleet gives even a bit of breathing room.

A Troubled Period For airBaltic

Behind the decision for airBaltic, however, while simple in the cut of two jets, is a warning sign recently flagged by the Latvian Prime Minister, who said that without continued funding support, the airline would struggle to survive in its current position.

Not only has airBaltic been facing pressure from every angle, but from a fleet standpoint, for all the positives surrounding the adoption of the A220 on paper, in reality, it’s a model plagued by durability and maintenance woes for years.

The airline has for years been facing Pratt & Whitney GTF pressures that have cancelled flights, suspended routes, lowered frequencies on others, and, more importantly, put planes on the ground. At one point, the airline saw nearly 15 of the model on the ground and listed them as inactive as a consequence.

With economic conditions also unfavourable, this has hammered the airline’s position in the industry and created a persistent requirement for funding that the Government, while acknowledging the importance of the airline, will not continue to provide.

The Latvian Prime Minister argues that continued funding without a viable business model, regardless of its importance on multiple fronts, is not feasible. As a consequence, the Government is pushing the airline, with the support of relevant agencies, to put forward a feasible new business plan before further funding is made available.

The equation is simple: with pressures around the fleet, economics, costs, and more, if nothing changes at airBaltic, it won’t live to see its dream fleet of over 100 Airbus A220s that it had outlined in recent years.