newstodate.aero

Sep 09, 2021 (newstodate): Latvia's airBaltic is not overly optimistic about any immediate recovery from the shortfall of traffic during the Covid-19 pandemic.
   According to the airline's CEO, Martin Gauss, speaking at an online event hosted by CAPA-Centre for Aviation, airBaltic does not expect to be back at pre-pandemic levels in 2022.
   -We are planning for 2022 as a year when we will still be below 2019-levels, Mr Gauss said.
   The carrier, therefore, does not expect a full recovery until 2023 - at the earliest.
   Defying times of waning demand in the market, airBaltic has committed itself to a massive influx of aircraft capacity in the form of Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
   In the fleet are now 30 aircraft of this type; the 31st Airbus A220-300 aircraft has started its flight test program at the Canadian factory, with one more aircraft also now in its flight test program for delivery before the end of 2021.
   The seven deliveries in 2021 are part of the follow-up order for 50 aircraft, after which the airline still holds options for a further 30 aircraft with Airbus.
    The carrier did see an increase by 104 percent, y-o-y, in pax volumes in August 2021 to a total of 280,800 passengers.  
   This is, however, still a far cry from pre-Covid August 2019 when a total of 566,093 passengers were boarded, an increase by 28 percent, y-o-y.
   August 2021-figures thus show that airBaltic is today carrying only half of the passengers boarding in August 2019.   
   The gap is especially large in the proportion of hi-revenue business travelers as most traffic by the airline's ever-growing aircraft fleet is scheduled for leisure destinations in a network dominated by holiday markets.