LONDON – Latvian airline airBaltic (BTI)has announced that on 20 July it started the redelivery process of its Bombardier Q400 NextGenaircraft back to their lessor Nordic Aviation Capital.
Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic, stated: “The first redelivery flight marks an official end to our previous stage of development.”
“Our Q400 fleet helped us to get where we are today – flying the youngest and most modern fleet in Europe. Airbus A220-300 are the backbone of our future growth.”
airBaltic made the decision to introduce an all-Airbus A220 fleet in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic in spring 2020. It is expected that all 12 Q400 NextGen aircraft will be returned to the lessor by the end of the year.
The first Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft joined airBaltic back in 2010. Over the years, 12 different Bombardier Q400 NextGen have carried more than 11 million passengers in total and have performed more than 222 thousand flights all across the Europe.
airBaltic continues to offer the best connectivity to and from Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius as well as Tampere, connecting them with leading European business centers and transit hubs.
About airBaltic
airBaltic (Air Baltic Corporation AS) connects the Baltic region with over 70 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS.
Over the last 25 years airBaltic has developed as a strong, profitable and internationally respected airline. airBaltic is by far the best-known international brand of Latvia and responsible for more than 2.5% of the Latvian GDP.
airBaltic operates 36 Airbus A220-300 aircraft. airBaltic has received numerous international awards for excellence and innovative services. Skytrax has awarded Latvian airline airBaltic a five–star COVID-19 safety rating.
In addition, airBaltic is one of the top twenty airlines for COVID-19 compliance by the safety, product, and COVID-19 rating agency Airlineratings.com.
In 2018 and 2019 airBaltic received the ATW Airline Industry Achievement Award as the Market Leader of the Year.
In addition, in 2019 airBaltic received Sector Leadership Award by Airline Business. airBaltic is a joint stock company that was established in 1995. Its primary shareholder is the Latvian state, which holds 97.03% of the stock, while the rest of the shareholders hold 2.97%.
The airBaltic Airbus fleet
Having transitioned to an all-Airbus fleet, airBaltic have taken one of their A220-300 aircraft to showcase at this year’s Farnborough Airshow.
The carrier had this to say about its Airbus fleet in an earlier statement:
Thus far, airBaltic has carried nearly 8,600,000 passengers on the Airbus A220-300 aircraft. Airbus A220-300’s have completed more than 92,000 flights and flown over 200,000 block hours.
Since May 2020, airBaltic operates all its flights with a single aircraft type – Airbus A220-300, thus minimizing the complexity and benefiting from the additional efficiency provided by the aircraft.
According to the airline, the Airbus A220-300 has performed beyond the company’s expectations, delivering better overall performance, fuel efficiency and convenience for both passengers and the staff.
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