The newly founded subsidiary Lufthansa City Airlines has entered into a strategic training cooperation with the Latvian airline Air Baltic. The aim of the collaboration is to prepare flight personnel for the Airbus A220-300 aircraft type.
Since May 1, 2026, the first six pilots of the German regional airline have been undergoing a structured training program in accordance with the guidelines of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). This cooperation allows the Lufthansa Group to draw on the extensive operational experience of the Latvians, who, as the world's first customer for this type, can boast nearly ten years of operational history with this aircraft family.
The training program is modular and tailored to the individual experience profile of the flight crews. In addition to the actual A220 type rating course, it includes an in-house operator conversion course. The theoretical and simulator-based training, part of the so-called Zero Flight Time Training, takes place at Air Baltic's modern training center in Riga, Latvia. The subsequent line flying under supervision and the acquisition of the necessary route experience are conducted directly on Air Baltic's regular European route network to guarantee practical integration into flight operations.
The timely training of cockpit crew is crucial for the upcoming fleet expansion of Lufthansa City Airlines. The Lufthansa Group has placed a firm order for a total of 40 Airbus A220-300 aircraft for its new subsidiary. Delivery of the first aircraft at its home hub in Frankfurt am Main is scheduled for November 2026, while the commencement of the first commercial passenger service is planned for the beginning of 2027. The introduction of the A220 models is intended to increase efficiency on European feeder routes to the Frankfurt and Munich hubs.
For Air Baltic, this training alliance represents an important economic pillar for marketing its training capacities in the Baltic region internationally. The airline operates an all-A220 fleet and has developed into a significant wet-lease provider for other European airlines in recent years. The cooperation also underscores the growing interconnectedness within the Lufthansa Group, which has regularly leased aircraft and crew from Air Baltic in the past to stabilize its own flight schedules when faced with capacity constraints.