Airbus Updates No.4385

 

airBaltic resumes all Airbus A220 in-house ops

airBaltic (BT, Riga) has ended the wet-leasing in of all aircraft and will operate all of its in-house flights using its own A220-300s during the Winter 2024/25 season.

"Our adaptability this past summer allowed us to maintain all planned operations despite external challenges. Our first priority is always to deliver the best customer experience through focusing solely on our A220-300 fleet, while we have sufficient aircraft availability, and we're committed to expanding and strengthening our fleet to support the growing demand for air travel from our passengers," President and CEO Martin Gauss said.

The Latvian carrier operates forty-eight A220-300s and has 42 more on firm order from Airbus. One delivery is expected "soon." The airline had been forced to resort to multiple wet leases during the summer season largely due to Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engine issues. The ch-aviation fleets module shows that ten A220s are currently inactive.

Gauss told ch-aviation before the peak season that while the situation had improved compared to 2023 (when airBaltic had to wet-lease in up to 14 aircraft), it was not good enough to avoid the use of supplemental ACMI. As of October 2024, the airline contracted six aircraft: three A319-100s (two from Carpatair and one from Avion Express) and three A320-200s (two from Heston Airlines and one from Avion Express). All of them ended operations for airBaltic on October 26, 2024.

airBaltic continues to pursue opportunities to wet-lease its own A220s out to other carriers. Sixteen of its A220s are currently operating for Lufthansa Group carriers: seven for Swiss, five for Eurowings, and four for Lufthansa.

Airbus Updates No.4068

 

Lithuania's GetJet Airlines adds maiden A321

GetJet Airlines Airbus A321-200© GetJet Airlines

20.07.2023 - 08:45 UTC

GetJet Airlines (GW, Vilnius) took delivery of a first A321-200 on July 10, 2023, and pressed it into service on July 18, 2023.

LY-WSA (msn 2115) is a 19.6-year-old jet formerly operated by rival ACMI/charter specialist Avion Express Malta (X8, Malta International). It was ferried from Sofia to Riga on July 10 and, after re-registration, began operating with an ad-hoc ACMI rotation from Oslo Gardermoen to Palma de Mallorca on behalf of Sunclass Airlines (DK, Copenhagen Kastrup). It is configured for up to 220 passengers in a single-class layout.

"The diversity within our fleet, encompassing different aircraft types, along with our readiness to modify aircraft according to our clients' requests, enables us to uphold our promise of quality and flexibility. The addition of the Airbus A321 further expands our capacity and solidifies our dedication," Chief Executive Rūta Kulvinskaitė said.

GetJet's fleet also includes one A319-100, five A320-200s, and five B737-800s. GetJet Airlines Latvia (DML, Riga) operates an additional A320-200, while affiliate company Airhub Airlines (RE, Malta International) operates two A320-200s, one A330-200, two A330-300s, and one A330-900.

Airbus Updates No.3958

 

Latvia's airBaltic to wet-lease four A320s in Summer 2023

Avion Express Airbus A320-200© Avion Express

08.03.2023 - 15:32 UTC

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.

Airbus Updates No.2404

LOT Polish Airlines to wet-lease four A320s in 1H20

Avion Express Airbus A320-200 © Avion Express

20.12.2019 - 19:55 UTC

LOT Polish Airlines (LO, Warsaw Chopin) will wet-lease four A320-200s from Lithuania's Avion Express (X9, Vilnius), the ACMI/charter specialist's parent Avia Solutions Group said in a press release.

The first two Airbus narrowbodies will start operating for the Polish flag carrier on January 14, 2020, with the other two to follow on February 1. The contract has been signed through the end of May 2020.

All four aircraft will be based out of Warsaw Chopin, although LOT has yet to file specific schedules for the A320s. It is the first-ever wet-lease agreement between Avion Express and LOT.

The Polish flag carrier is particularly affected by the ongoing grounding of the B737 MAX as it has five B737-8 in storage and a further seven awaiting delivery. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, LOT's narrowbody fleet also includes three B737-400s, one B737-700, and seven B737-800s. The carrier is also wet-leasing an A320-200 from GetJet Airlines (GW, Vilnius). According to the ch-aviation schedules module, this wet-lease will conclude on January 13, 2020.

Avion Express operates eight A320-200s and seven A321-200s.

Airbus Updates No.2305

VietJetAir to lease six A320 Family jets from Avion Express

Avion Express Airbus A320-200 © Avion Express

25.10.2019 - 02:32 UTC

VietJetAir (VJ, Hanoi) will wet-lease three A320-200s and three A321-200s from Avion Express (X9, Vilnius) during the Winter 2019/20 season, the Lithuanian ACMI/charter specialist said in a press release.

"Avion Express is constantly working on expanding its client base and has recently signed an ACMI contract with VietJetAir, an international low-cost airline from Vietnam. According to the wet-lease agreement, six aircraft - three Airbus A320 and three Airbus A321 - will be flying for the Vietnamese carrier until the end of February 2020. Four of the aircraft will already start operations in Vietnam in November," it said.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Avion Express currently operates fourteen A320-200s and seven A321-200s. Ten A320s are wet-leased to SunExpress (XQ, Antalya), one to United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (Brindisi), two have been inactive since ACMI customer Thomas Cook Airlines UK (MT, Manchester Int'l) collapsed, and one was ferried to Amman Queen Alia on October 23. Two A321s are wet-leased to Onur Air (8Q, Istanbul New) and of the remaining five, which used to be wet-leased to Thomas Cook UK, four are inactive and one is scheduled to start operating for Condor (DE, Frankfurt Int'l) shortly.

Subsidiary Avion Express Malta (MLH, Malta Int'l) operates an A320 for Norwegian (DY, Oslo Gardermoen).

For its part, VietJetAir operates an in-house fleet of twenty-two A320-200s, thirty-three A321-200s, and twelve A321-200neo. It also wet-leases three A320s from FlyOne (5F, Chisinau).

Airbus Updates No.1845

Lithuania's Avion Express adds three more A320s

Avion Express Airbus A320-200 © Avion Express

7 hours ago

Avion Express (X9, Vilnius) has announced it has leased a further three A320 aircraft, bringing the total fleet of the Lithuanian ACMI/charter provider to eighteen Airbus narrowbodies.

The aircraft are all ex-Sky Angkor Airlines stock and have already been wet-leased to Thomas Cook Group carriers. LV-NVX (msn 2689) and LV-NVY (msn 1909) are wet-leased by Condor, while LV-NVZ (msn 921) flies for Thomas Cook Airlines UK.

"In times of constantly growing demand for ACMI services, we have worked consistently to increase our fleet and strengthen our position in the market by assisting our clients worldwide. During 2018 and beyond we will continue working hard to further strengthen our stand as a forward-thinking leader in the ACMI market," CEO Darius Kajokas has said.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the Lithuanian ACMI/charter provider currently deals exclusively with Thomas Cook Group with seven aircraft wet-leased to each of Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Condor. A further four aircraft, which all had been previously leased to Cubana, are currently undergoing maintenance.

Airbus Updates No.1831

Lithuania's Avion Express secures two A321s from AviaAM

Thomas Cook Airlines UK Airbus A321-200SL © Thomas Cook Airlines UK

09MAY2018

Avion Express (X9, Vilnius) has signed an agreement with AviaAM Leasing for the operating lease of two A321-200s on six-year contracts.

Both aircraft will be deployed into service for Thomas Cook Airlines UK (MT, Manchester Int'l) later this summer season.

Avion Express specializes in ACMI contracts employing a fleet of one A319-100, nine A320-200s, and five A321-200s. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Avion Express' clients currently include Cubana, Condor, and Thomas Cook Airlines UK. In 2018 Avion Express will operate eighteen A320 family aircraft.

Airbus Updates No.1761

Turkey's SunExpress to launch leased A320 ops in late-2Q18

Avion Express Airbus A320-200© Avion Express

01FEB2018

SunExpress (XQ, Antalya) will launch services out of Antalya operated with five A320 aircraft leased from Lithuanian ACMI/charter specialist Avion Express (X9, Vilnius) on June 1 according to Airline Route. 

The Turkish leisure specialist will deploy the Airbus twinjets to Basle/Mulhouse/Freiburg, CH, Hanover, Zurich (all commencing June 1), Dusseldorf, Münster/Osnabrück (both June 2), Stuttgart Echterdingen(June 9), Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Nuremberg (all June 15), Copenhagen Kastrup (June 19), Hamburg Helmut Schmidt (June 24), and Brussels National (June 26). 

The aircraft will supplement the Turkish carrier's own Boeing fleet, consisting of fifty-one B737-800s. Nineteen of these aircraft are operated on behalf of Turkish Airlines, while one flies for AtlasGlobal. Its subsidiary SunExpress Deutschland (XG, Frankfurt Int'l) operates a further twelve B737-800s, including one on behalf of Eurowings. The German unit also operates seven A330-200s on behalf of the Lufthansa Group unit.