This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Lufthansa Group and airBaltic have announced that they’ve extended their wet lease agreement for a few more years, so expect to see lots of airBaltic planes operating Lufthansa Group routes.
Lufthansa Group wet leasing up to 21 airBaltic A220s
Lufthansa Group and airBaltic have extended their partnership for an additional three years beyond the summer of 2025. With this, Lufthansa Group wet leases planes from airBaltic, meaning that airBaltic planes and crew operate flights on behalf of Lufthansa Group airlines, like Brussels Airlines and SWISS.
With this partnership, airBaltic will operate up to 21 planes on behalf of Lufthansa Group in the summer season, and up to five planes on behalf of Lufthansa Group in the winter season.
airBaltic, which is owned by the government of Latvia, operates a fleet consisting exclusively of Airbus A220-300s. A220s are lovely planes to fly, thanks to the 2-3 configuration, plus the modern cabin.
Lufthansa Group is increasingly emphasizing the value of a wet lease partnership like what it has with airBaltic. That’s because the airline group is noting that consumer demand is even more seasonal than before (especially with half decent yields), so it’s valuable for the airline to be able to add capacity in summer, without having excess aircraft in winter.
airBaltic is such an impressive operation
airBaltic is just such a breath of fresh air in the airline industry, in my opinion:
- The airline is government owned, yet despite that, is run with incredible discipline and like a for-profit operation
- The level of fleet consistency that airBaltic has been focused on is basically unrivaled, and I love how the airline just keeps doubling down on the same plane, as the synergies are amazing; airBaltic hopes to have a fleet of 100 A220s by 2030
- Despite having a tough several years (between the pandemic and the closure of Russian airspace), airBaltic has maintained its core strategy and has gotten creative, from leasing out its jets to other airlines, to setting up hubs at other destinations in winter
- I think airBaltic’s hustle of leasing out A220s to other operators is really smart and worth highlighting; the airline has lower labor costs than many other European countries, and the A220 is a plane that’s easy to lease out, when other airlines need additional capacity in peak season
There aren’t many airlines that simultaneously successfully run scheduled passenger flights while also leasing out their planes, but airBaltic is an example of an airline where it works. Now, as airBaltic continues to grow its fleet, I do wonder what will be done with planes in winter.
As you can see, Lufthansa Group is leasing airBaltic planes year-round, but we’re talking about a handful of planes in winter, and over four times as many planes in summer. Yes, airBaltic has gotten creative with setting up winter hubs, but ultimately there’s only so much demand any airline is going to have in winter.
There have also been rumors of Lufthansa Group potentially being interested in investing in airBaltic, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that become a reality.
Bottom line
Lufthansa Group and airBaltic have extended their partnership, whereby we’ll see Lufthansa Group wet lease up to 21 Airbus A220s in summer, and up to five jets in winter. The airlines have cooperated on a wet lease agreement for several years now, and that will be continuing.
What do you make of Lufthansa Group’s wet lease agreement with airBaltic?
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