newstodate.aero

Jul 28, 2022 (newstodate): The Latvian carrier airBaltic has lofty ambitions for its future development.
   Undaunted by the fact that the market for hi-yield business air traffic is dwindling after the Covid-19 disruption to the industry, forcing the carrier to deploy its growing fleet of Airbus A220-300 to serving primarily low-yield leisure traffic, airBaltic is now even airing visions of adding new long-range aircraft to the fleet.
   In a recent interview with the aviation media Simple Flying, the airline's CEO reveals dreams of entering the transatlantic market with direct flights to the USA with new larger aircraft such as the Airbus A321XLR aircraft.
   -We are considering the acquisition of the Airbus A321XLR aircraft, although we also show interest in other smaller long-range aircraft on the market. The XLR program should be launched in 2025, which seems to be the right time to bring the Airbus A321XLR to Latvia, Mr Gauss told Simple Flying on the sidelines of the Farnborough Air Show.
   The longest route currently served by airBaltic is the flight from Riga to Dubai, requiring 6 hours 45 minutes of flying time, with the second largest to be launched on October 31, 2022, when airBaltic will be offering scheduled seasonal flights from Riga to Marrakesh, in Morocco, using Airbus A220-300 aircraft in the air for 5 hours 30 minutes.
   airBaltic is today operating a single-type aircraft fleet of 36 Airbus A220-300 aircraft and aims at having 40 in the fleet by the end of the year, part of airBaltic's order for 50 Airbus A220-300; in addition, airBaltic holds 30 options and purchase rights for the same aircraft type.