SmartLynx Airlines (6Y, Riga) plans to increase the number of aircraft it operates to 60 this year, almost doubling the size of its fleet, its chief executive Žygimantas Surintas revealed in a statement on March 31. This will include taking delivery of its first B737-8.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Baltic ACMI/charter specialist SmartLynx, which is part of Lithuania-based, Cyprus-registered Avia Solutions Group, currently operates 14 aircraft under its own AOC, plus five under SmartLynx Airlines Estonia (MYX, Tallinn Lennart Meri) and another 17 at its Maltese unit SmartLynx Airlines Malta (2N, Malta International).
These thirty-six jets are twenty A320-200s, eight A321-200s, one A321-200(PCF), one A321-200(P2F), and six A330-300s. Recent ACMI customers have included Air Peace, Royal Air Maroc, Norwegian Air Sweden AOC, Qatar Airways, and, in the case of the two freighters, EAT Leipzig for DHL Express.
Surintas said the carrier was expecting delivery of five aircraft during April, including its first B737-8 MAX, and then a further 22 by the end of the summer season.
“We forecast that we will overtake a few big names around the world in terms of fleet size this year, but we will be able to talk about it more specifically when we have received all the aircraft,” Surintas said in the statement. “Along with the fleet expansion, our workforce is also increasing - currently we have 300 at the office in Riga, and we plan to hire about 40 more by the end of the year.”
With the peak of the summer season approaching, SmartLynx Airlines will soon pivot most of its business to passenger charter flights to leisure destinations on behalf of local tour operators.
