airBaltic 26th Airbus 220-300 delivery and takeover of its passenger handling at Riga Airport

On May 2, 2021 airBaltic welcomed its 26th Airbus A220-300 jet, registered as YL-AAZ, in Riga. This is the first out of seven planned Airbus A220-300 aircraft deliveries for airBaltic in 2021. This aircraft is a part of the 50Airbus A220-300 which airBaltic has ordered. In addition, airBaltic holds 30 options for the same aircraft type. Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “This year airBaltic offers 96 routes from the Baltics thus strengthening our positions as the leading airline in the region. We see that with the increasing vaccination levels in the Europe the demand for leisure travel is recovering. Thus, to support our future return to profit and growth, by the end of 2021 we are planning to have 32 Airbus A220-300 aircraft on our fleet.”

Since May 2020, airBaltic operates all of its flights with a single aircraft type – Airbus A220-300, thus minimizing the complexity and benefiting from the additional efficiency provided by the aircraft. 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. This aircraft offers an excellent flying experience with such benefits for passengers as wider seats, larger windows, more hand luggage space in the cabin, improved lavatories and much more.

The Airbus A220-300 has a high-quality air filtering system equipped with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) type filter that provides the best level of filtration currently available for recirculated cabin air from the very beginning of boarding, during entire flight and until all passengers have left the aircraft. The quality of cabin air is carefully controlled and is recirculated with ventilation rates that provide a total change of air 20-30 times per hour. 

In addition, the new aircraft is also considerably quieter – with a four times smaller noise footprint. Moreover, at the moment it is the greenest commercial aircraft in the world, as it is the first aircraft to have a transparent declaration of the life-cycle environmental impact, helping to reduce CO2 and NOX emissions by 20% and 50% respectively.

airBaltic announces that as of January 2022 airBaltic will perform its passenger handling duties at Riga Airport with its own staff. Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “For the last 18 years, passenger handling was outsourced. Now, during the crisis airBaltic is successfully revising its products and service to focus on delivering the core brand values, which includes a strong focus on all passenger touchpoints. As of next year, when checking in at Riga Airport and boarding the aircraft, passengers will meet airBaltic staff, thus ensuring a seamless customer service.”

The passenger service improvement at Riga Airport is a part of the cost improvement program of the airline, which will simplify its business and operations. In addition, it enables airBaltic to re-employ part of its former employees.

At the same time, as of January 2022 RIX Ground Handling will provide ramp-handling duties to airBaltic. Both sides have signed an agreement for five years. The cooperation with RIX Ground Handling will strengthen airBaltic’s world leading operational performance as well as strengthen Riga Airport ground handling service. RIX Ground Handling punctuality reached 99.86% in 2019.

The safety and health of our passengers is airBaltic’s top priority. airBaltic has introduced strong health measures and the flight operations follow the recommendations issued by authorities. To read more about the airBaltic health measures, please visit airBaltic website: https://www.airbaltic.com/en/health-measures.