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airBaltic (BT, Riga) has announced it will wet-lease four A320-200s from Avion Express Malta (X8, Malta International) to support its summertime operations out of its Baltic bases.

The Latvian carrier will base two aircraft out of Riga from March 26 to October 28, 2023, and one each out of Tallinn Lennart Meri and Vilnius from May 1 to October 28, 2023. The airline said the portfolio of wet-leased aircraft will include 9H-AMI (msn 3409), 9H-AMK (msn 3562), 9H-MLY (msn 3943, yet to be inducted and currently registered as OE-IFJ), and 9H-MLX (msn 2964). Each of them is configured in a single-class layout, seating up to 180 passengers.

airBaltic's in-house fleet comprises exclusively A220-300s, of which it operates 39. The aircraft are in two configurations, seating up to 145 and 148 passengers, respectively. According to ch-aviation research, the carrier has been particularly affected by the Pratt & Whitney GTF PW1100G engine issue with 13 of the jets either out of service either parked or undergoing maintenance.

"Although...

Editorial Comment: The article updates with the corrected domicile of Avion Express. - 09.03.2023 - 09:30 UTC

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