AARHUS, Denmark—AirBaltic has no plans to operate scheduled transatlantic service at present, but is seeking the flexibility to offer operations within the U.S. market, potentially on behalf of other carriers.
The Latvian airline submitted an application to the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) in March for exemption authority and an amended foreign air carrier permit, seeking permission to operate scheduled and charter routes between European Union countries and the U.S., as well as between points within the U.S. and beyond.
This move prompted speculation about airBaltic’s network plans, with suggestions that the airline could offer service to the U.S. from its Baltic hubs in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. However, the 3,970-mi. (3,450-nm) range of its Airbus A220-300 aircraft would likely mean flights would need to operate with a fuel stop.
However, speaking at Routes Europe 2024, airBaltic's vice president for network development, Mantas Vrubliauskas, said the airline does not foresee scheduled transatlantic operations in the immediate future. He instead suggested the application to the DOT is designed to help the carrier address fleet overcapacity during the European winter months.
“We are quite big in the wet-lease market. At the moment, we have 17 aircraft flying for other carriers. Within the ACMI market, we also have a seasonality problem, so [we have begun] to explore opportunities in the U.S,” he said when questioned by Routes.
“[The application] is a first step in exploring those opportunities—we need to have permission to fly. We don’t really have any plans for scheduled flights per se from Europe to the U.S., but we just want to be ready nevertheless.”
AirBaltic has a fleet of 46 aircraft in active service, according to data from CAPA – Centre for Aviation, comprising 45 A220-300s and one A320. The airline also has a further 33 A220s on order.
There are no scheduled nonstop flights between Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia and the U.S. at present, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data. However, Uzbekistan Airways offered flights between Riga, Latvia, and New York John F. Kennedy until March 2018.
Earlier this month, Lithuania’s Transport and Communications Ministry also announced that the country has achieved a Category 1 safety rating, enabling Lithuanian carriers to operate commercial services to the U.S.
Vrubliauskas said that the Baltics-U.S. market is growing and he expects there to be nonstop service “one day”. However, he added, “I don’t think it will be today—maybe not even in five years.”
AirBaltic says it anticipates revenues for the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 to reach about €132 million ($141 million), representing an increase of 26% year-on-year and the highest-ever Q1 for the airline. Passenger numbers rose by 20% to 926,000, compared with the first three months of 2023, marking another historic high.
Additionally, the carrier says available seat kilometers were 1.9 billion in Q1 2024, up by 30% year-on-year, while its load factor improved from 71% in Q1 2023 to 75.9% in Q1 2024.
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