airBaltic (BT, Riga) has announced it will wet-lease four A320-200s from Avion Express Malta (X8, Malta International) to support its summertime operations out of its Baltic bases.

The Latvian carrier will base two aircraft out of Riga from March 26 to October 28, 2023, and one each out of Tallinn Lennart Meri and Vilnius from May 1 to October 28, 2023. The airline said the portfolio of wet-leased aircraft will include 9H-AMI (msn 3409), 9H-AMK (msn 3562), 9H-MLY (msn 3943, yet to be inducted and currently registered as OE-IFJ), and 9H-MLX (msn 2964). Each of them is configured in a single-class layout, seating up to 180 passengers.

airBaltic's in-house fleet comprises exclusively A220-300s, of which it operates 39. The aircraft are in two configurations, seating up to 145 and 148 passengers, respectively. According to ch-aviation research, the carrier has been particularly affected by the Pratt & Whitney GTF PW1100G engine issue with 13 of the jets either out of service either parked or undergoing maintenance.

"Although the challenges, caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are still being felt, the aviation industry is gradually stabilising. As a result, passenger demand for air travel is increasing. At the same time, the industry as a whole continues to face technical parts supply chain issues, which means we need additional capacity to carry all passengers, avoiding flight cancellations," Chief Executive Martin Gauss said.

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that Avion Express Malta's fleet currently comprises twenty-five A320-200s and three A321-200s. Its Lithuanian sister company Avion Express (X9, Vilnius) operates a further ten A320-200s.