has officially revealed the livery of its 50th Airbus A220-300 aircraft. The all-A220-300 fleet operator introduced the design which was the chosen winner from a contest that included an impressive pool of 840 entries.
Elements representing all three Baltic States
airBaltic, which officially unveiled a special livery for its milestone A220-300
aircraft, said that its 50th jet of the type featured an artistic portrayal of the Latvian flag with unique elements representing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the three Baltic States. The company launched its livery design contest in November 2023, with airBaltic Club members voting on their favorite designs.
Subsequently, 21 designs were shortlisted and acquired by airBaltic, all of which represented national or the Baltic region’s heritage. The winning design received over 30% of the total votes from all of the shortlisted liveries.
“This striking livery portrays an artistic depiction of a girl soaring through the clouds with long, flowing hair crowned by a traditional wreath and proudly featuring the Latvian flag.”
The Latvian carrier, which already had special Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian flag liveries, said that it had modified and redesigned the final sketch of the design according to the A220-300’s technical requirements.
Canada employees painted the livery in 18 days, using 21 different colors to bring the design to life. For the first time ever, the manufacturer used a stencil overlay technique.
However, the aircraft, which should be registered as YL-ABX, has not yet been delivered to airBaltic. The single-aisle jet, with the test registration C-FPBZ, operated its first flight on January 21, and it should join the airline’s fleet sometime in February.
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Artists from any country can enter for a chance to win a €3,000 prize, and the winning design will be displayed across the carrier’s network.
Halfway to its goal
Martin Gauss, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of airBaltic, remarked that since it launched the A220-300, then known as the Bombardier CSeries CS300, in 2016, the type has become the backbone of its operations.
The 50th A220-300 marked the completion of its initial order, with the airline now having another 40 aircraft of the type in its backlog. The Latvian airline added another 30 A220-300s to its backlog during the Dubai Airshow in November 2023, supplementing that order with another ten aircraft in August 2024.
Photo: airBaltic
Gauss added that the carrier is now at the halfway point to its goal of doubling in size and operating 100 A220-300 aircraft by 2030.
“We are glad to be here with our long-standing partner Airbus and stakeholders to celebrate the reveal of our special milestone aircraft. airBaltic continues to lead the aviation industry in the Baltics, and with this rich culture in mind, we wanted the livery to reflect a glimpse of all the beauty the three Baltic nations have to offer.”
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Second-largest A220-300 operator in the world
Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium’s Diio Mi airline planning tool showed that in February, airBaltic was the second-largest operator of the A220-300 in terms of operated weekly flights.
With 1,032 A220-300 operated weekly flights in February, it only trails JetBlue
, which had 1,087 weekly flights with the type. In comparison, the United States-based carrier has 44 A220-300 aircraft in its fleet, per ch-aviation data.
Photo: MBekir | Shutterstock
Despite having a shorter average segment distance, 1,313 kilometers (708.9 nautical miles) versus 1,522 km (821.8 NMI), airBaltic has fewer A220-300 total block minutes with the type compared to JetBlue in February 390,934 versus 658,151.
During the month, airBaltic’s daily flights with the aircraft type fluctuate between 109 and 175, while JetBlue’s A220-300 daily schedule remains relatively stable and ranges between 152 and 158.
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