The fleet of the Latvian national airline airBaltic has decreased by one Airbus A220-300, as the aircraft sustained serious thermal damage during maintenance in June of last year.
As a result, in 2025, the airBaltic group incurred losses of 6.2 million euros, according to the company's annual report.
Augusts Zilberts, head of public and political relations at airBaltic, informed the LETA agency that in 2025, during maintenance, the Airbus A220-300 aircraft with registration number YL-AAO suffered significant thermal damage in the area of the wing and fuselage attachment during the ground check of the auxiliary engine in Riga — in the ozone filter equipment.
After assessment, representatives from Airbus concluded that restoring the aircraft was economically unfeasible.
There are no guilty parties — the investigation into the incident showed that maintenance was conducted in accordance with all applicable procedures. Following this incident, Airbus updated the relevant maintenance recommendations for all A220 aircraft.
Zilberts also noted that the aircraft was acquired through operational leasing and was insured. An insurance claim has been filed regarding the incident, which is currently under review.
He added that the catalog price of one Airbus A220-300 aircraft is approximately 90 million euros; however, this figure is indicative, as the actual price may vary significantly depending on the order volume, aircraft configuration, individual terms with the manufacturer, market conditions, and other factors.
How did the loss of an aircraft worth up to 90 million euros result in only 6 million in losses? It is unclear. Currently, the airline's fleet consists of 53 aircraft. So the repair teams have a large margin for experimentation.
The company plans to form a fleet of 99 aircraft by 2032, assuming, of course, that the company will still exist by then.
As reported by bb.lv, the losses of the airBaltic group last year amounted to 44.337 million euros.
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