“Now, to date, we have seven aircraft on the ground, which means we’re missing 14 engines. However, airBaltic has been forced to wet lease several aircraft, breaking the singularity of its fleet at least until the winter, as several aircraft simply do not have engines to operate flights. As Gauss has pointed out, even though the A220-100 has marginally lower operating costs, if it’s possible to fill an A220-300, it’s better to have the larger variant. The only difference between the -100 and the -300 is the number of seats, with the latter seating a maximum of 15 more passengers, according to Airbus’ commercial aircraft page. I do not want to exclude that one day that might be coming as we go bigger and bigger, but the business case for us works best on the -300,” Gauss explained. “We want to keep the simplicity, for the time being, of having a unified fleet. Currently, the flight is operated by LOT Polish Airlines, with the carrier utilizing an Embraer E190 to operate the flight between the two capitals until September 30, 2023, when the current contract is scheduled to expire.Īmerigo Vespucci Airport (FLR), located in Florence, Italy, is another airport to which airBaltic would be interested in flying, but again, the A220-300’s size prevents it from doing so. To note, the Lithuanian government recently launched a tender to operate the VNO – LCY route under the European Commission (EC) regulations covering public service routes. “We would love to have it for the Vilnius – London City route because there is a tender out there and that would be perfect, as ours is too big,” said Gauss. Has airBaltic had any discussions with Airbus regarding the stretched variant? “We have the normal industry knowledge, which they make public, but we did not have any specific discussions,” Gauss noted.Īnd the executive denied the possibility of the pendulum swinging the other way – that is, airBaltic ordering the smallest A220 family member, the A220-100.
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