airBaltic's Airbus A220s have carried more than 6.5 million passengers since the type's introduction five years ago in November 2016. Back then, the aircraft was still called the Bombardier C-Series. These days the airline has 32 of the type, with another 18 firm orders and further options.

The Airbus A220 family has been in service for over half a decade now. Slowly, the number of operators is growing, with the type proving that it was the little jet that could at the height of the pandemic. One airline, in particular, is a massive fan of the type, with airBaltic scrapping its other jets in favor of the narrowbody jet.

airBaltic has carried over 6.5 passengers

airBaltic has been carrying passengers on the Airbus A220-300 for almost five years now, having been the type's launch customer in late November 2016. Since then, the airline has put the jet to good use, clocking 6.5 million passengers with the type.

Today, the airline has 32 of the type, making it Europe's largest A220 operator and the world's largest operator of the larger A220-300. It has firm commitments for another 18 aircraft, leading to a firm fleet of 50 jets. Alongside carrying 6.5 million passengers, the aircraft have clocked quite the flight time. So far, the jets have flown for over 175,312 hours (20 years), equating to 78,246 flights.

Returning towards pre-pandemic schedules

airBaltic is slowly regaining ground lost at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when it became the first airline to halt all flights. According to data from RadarBox.com, the airline is operating an average of 112 flights a day this week, down just 27.27% from 154 during the same week in 2019.

It's also making significant strides with its fleet utilization. In August, RadarBox.com tracked 3,106 airBaltic flights equating to 6,200 hours (8.5 months). This is a considerable improvement from February when the airline saw its lowest traffic since resuming operations. In the second month of 2021, the airline operated just 475 flights, equating to 842 hours (35 days).

Flying the A220 to the Middle East

In late September, airBaltic started flying the Airbus A220 from its Riga home to Dubai, which isn't quite as long as its flight to Tenerife. It replaced the airline's Abu Dhabi route operated from 2013 to 2020.

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This week, the airline will operate an extra Airbus A220 flight to Dubai, though there won't be any paying passengers. Instead of flying to Dubai International Airport, the aircraft will instead fly to the nearby Al Maktoum International Airport, which today welcomed the Boeing 777X.

In partnership with Airbus, airBaltic will be bringing one of its A220-300 aircraft to show off at the Dubai Airshow. While airBaltic took its A220 to the Paris Air Show in 2019, an Egyptair A220 was at the last installment of the Dubai Airshow.

Have you flown on an airBaltic Airbus A220? Let us know where you flew and how you found it in the comments!