airBaltic welcomes the newest A220-300 as the second to be delivered in 2026. The update came on Feb. 15, when the Latvian airline saw their most recent new aircraft registered in Riga with the designation of YL-BTD, and is one of 54 in airBaltic’s growing fleet.
A220-300 Service History
The A220-300 first entered airBaltic’s fleet in 2016 and has been a regular carrier to destinations across Europe, such as Lithuania, Estonia and its own primary network hub at Riga International Airport (RIX) in Latvia. This is all thanks to its short term ACMI services which allow for this particular aircraft to adjust its short term capacity to keep up with the seasonal demand, connecting more than 80 destinations across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Over the past decade airBaltic purports that the A220-300 has racked up a combined estimate of 550, 000 flight hours and carried close to 24 Million Passengers, operated approximately 250,000 flights overall.
airBaltic A220-300 Design Features
airBaltic’s newest A220-300 is equipped with the most current retrofitted design features to aid passenger comfort, these include wider seats, larger windows and more overhead baggage space. Furthermore, airBaltic A220-300s first introduced free access to Starlink Wifi in February 2025, with the airline claiming ‘more than’ 20 aircraft are now equipped with this kind of internet access.
The A220-300 aims to be more environmentally ‘efficient’ as airBaltic’s decision to operate single use of the aircraft. Former airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss outlined the changes in a statement shortly before he stepped down from the company in 2025.
“If you look at the fuel flow, it has a 30% lower fuel flow than an equivalent older generation aircraft of that size,” he said.
The airline’s goal is to increase the technical efficiency while also reducing CO₂ and NOx emissions compared to previous generation aircraft.
Do you believe a single fleet of aircraft is environmentally efficient? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
