airBaltic Opens An Airbus A220 Base In Gran Canaria

Summary

airBaltic’s seasonal base at Las Palmas Gran Canaria Airport is now operational, with flights to 10 destinations across the Baltic States and Scandinavia.
The base will host two Airbus A220-300 aircraft, which offer lower operating costs and are easier to fill during the winter season.
airBaltic plans to double its fleet size with an additional 50 Airbus A220-300 aircraft.

airBaltic’s seasonal base at Las Palmas Gran Canaria Airport (LPA), Spain, is now operational, with the Latvian airline kicking off flights from its base at the Spanish island on December 1, 2023. In total, the carrier plans to fly to 10 destinations across the Baltic States and Scandinavia from the base.

Seasonal base

The base will host two Airbus A220-300 aircraft. A June 2023 statement, which also announced that ticket sales on flights from/to LPA had begun, said that airBaltic would connect LPA to nine new destinations in Northern Europe. Flights between Riga Airport (RIX) and LPA started on October 23, 2023. Other cities served from the base include Aalborg, Billund, Copenhagen, Denmark, Oslo, Norway, Tampere, Finland, Tallinn, Estonia, and Vilnius, Lithuania, with flights beginning on December 1, 2023.

Speaking to AeroTime in August 2023, Martin Gauss, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of airBaltic, emphasized that the base would only be operational during the winter, as bigger aircraft would be better suited to serve LPA during the peak summer season. Still, the airline’s 149-seat configuration, combined with much lower operating costs compared to the bigger Airbus A320neo or Boeing 737 MAX families, has provided airBaltic with an opportunity to expand its horizons during the lower demand season.

airBaltic Airbus A220 at Vilnius Airport VNO

Photo: Karolis Kavolelis | Shutterstock

At the time, Gauss remarked that the airline had already seen promising booking numbers for its routes from/to LPA. However, it noted that the backbone of the carrier’s business model remains providing connectivity from the Baltic States and Scandinavia.

The CEO also noted that the lower-density Airbus A220s are much easier to fill during the winter, which is why airBaltic can compete with incumbent airlines, such as SAS or Norwegian, which use the larger Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 aircraft. As a result, the Latvian airline is able to compete with lower ticket prices while still maintaining a business-class product that offers higher yields and an improved passenger experience to those booking the more premium seats.

airBaltic Airbus A220-300 Flight Review: Tallinn To Vilnius

Reviewing the short, one-hour flight between two Baltic capitals onboard the Airbus A220-300.

Doubling its fleet size

Gauss has hinted such additional bases could appear on the airline’s network in the future. After all, the airline has ordered an additional 50 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, 20 of which are options, during the Dubai Airshow 2023. Currently, airBaltic operates 45 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, with the latest jet arriving at RIX on November 21, 2023. Its first aircraft of the type, then known as the Bombardier CSeries CS300, arrived in November 2016.

Bombardier CSeries CS300 at Riga Airport RIX

Photo: StockPhotosLV | Shutterstock

Since, the Latvian carrier made the decision to transition to become an all-Airbus A220-300 operator in April 2020. Its last De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 left RIX in January 2023, according to ch-aviation data. airBaltic has invited people to design the livery of its upcoming 50th Airbus A220-300. Along with a €3,000 ($3,265) gift card, the winner will also see their design appear on the single-aisle jet, which should arrive in the airline’s fleet sometime in 2024.