• airBaltic A220
    airBaltic
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    BI/BTI
    Airline Type:
    Hybrid Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Riga International Airport
    Year Founded:
    1995
    CEO:
    Martin Gauss
    Country:
    Latvia

Last week, some airBaltic customers received an email informing them that their flights had been canceled. While flight cancellations aren't too surprising these days, given industry staffing challenges, airBaltic is citing a shortage of spare parts as its reason for cutting flights out of its Vilnius and Riga hubs. Let's take a look at the airline's network changes and the underlying issue causing problems.

European services get axed

According to the Lithuanian media outlet 15 Minutes, airBaltic is cutting a number of services from Vilnius. From September, the carrier will no longer operate flights from the Lithuanian capital to Oslo, London Gatwick, Dublin, and Hamburg. The latter service only launched at the beginning of May. During the same time period, the airline will also be reducing the frequency of its Paris and Berlin flights, down to three and two flights per week, respectively.

Vilnius appears to be the hardest hit as airBaltic will also be reducing the frequency of service from Vilnius to Riga and Tallinn, although exact figures for service reductions were not offered by the airline. Feeling less of the pain but still affected is airBaltic's main hub of Riga, which will see a suspension in services to Edinburgh, Manchester, and Stavanger.

Vilnius Suspended Services
Visualizing the canceled services. Photo: Great Circle Map

Availability of aircraft parts to blame

Flights are being canceled across Europe for a wide variety of reasons. At KLM, it's due to Schiphol Airport staff shortages, while at easyJet and Lufthansa, the problem is a shortage of personnel within the airline (although labor action at easyJet could make matters worse). airBaltic's reason is a new one to add to the list. Responding to an inquiry from 15 Minutes, an airBaltic spokesperson said:

"Unfortunately, global supply chain problems have also affected the availability of some aircraft parts. These parts are required for airBaltic aircraft. So for this reason, the airlines will restructure the entire flight network in the coming months. This is a global problem in the aviation industry that cannot be solved by leasing an aircraft."

According to a June 22 report by Delfi, seven of the airline's jets need various spare parts which are currently unavailable. According to data from Planespotters.net, the airline has six aircraft listed as parked out of a total fleet of 36 Airbus A220-300s.

The airline representative adds that this is a temporary solution and that the airline will seek to return to Vilnius in the winter of 2022–2023 season, with affected customers contacted and offered alternative travel options.

airbaltic-aircraft-27
The airline now has 36 A220-300s, operating the type exclusively. Photo: airBaltic

Least profitable routes were likely chosen first

It's safe to say that the routes chosen by airBaltic for service reduction or suspension were likely the least profitable. Another determining factor is that the airline would be able to re-route willing passengers to their destinations with a stopover in Riga in most cases. The Latvian capital and airline home base hosts the majority of airBaltic's services.

Still, in a market primarily dominated by low-cost carriers like Ryanair and Wizz Air, the loss of airBaltic's services will only strengthen the position of these budget airlines in bases like Vilnius.

What do you think of this situation? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Source: 15 Minutes, Delfi