airBaltic sets its sights on Airbus A220-500 variant

Latvia’s flag-carrier, airBaltic, has reportedly set its sights on a larger version of Airbus A220 aircraft family, the Airbus A220-500. The Latvian carrier also aims to equip its A220-300 aircraft with an additional fuel tank. 

"Currently, airBaltic operates one of the longest scheduled routes of the A220-300 – Riga-Dubai and Riga-Tenerife. With the future development and further increase in the range we would support additional fuel tank capacity as well as a stretched version," airBaltic spokesperson told AeroTime in an emailed statement on December 1, 2021. 

airBaltic spokesperson added: "airBaltic is the largest operator of the aircraft type globally and thus welcomes any technological advancement of the A220-300." 

Airbus has already hinted about the possibility of producing a larger version of the Airbus A220, the A220-500 aircraft. Airbus’ chief commercial officer Christian Scherer has also confirmed to Airlineratings.com that the stretched A220 variant may eventually become the successor to the A320 family aircraft.

 “It’s not a question of if, but when a stretched A220 will become the successor of our narrowbody A320 family, these plans have existed since Bombardier started initial designs for the CSeries,” Scherer said. 

Currently, airBaltic has a total of 32 A220-300s in its fleet, according to the carrier. The airline is still waiting for delivery of 18 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, according to Airbus orders and deliveries data. The carrier also has options for 30 additional A220-300s. 

Updated with the statement from airBaltic