The Latvian airline Air Baltic has ceremoniously welcomed its Airbus A220-300 number 40. The carrier was the first operator of this type, which was still referred to as the Bombardier CS-300 at the time the first machine was taken over. In the meantime, the de Havilland Dash 8-400 and Boeing 737-300/500 have been parted with and it has become a pure A220-300 operator.

In addition to flights on its own account, ACMI flights have also been operated for external customers for some time. For example, Eurowings, Eurowings Discover, Swiss, SAS and some other airlines are among the customers. Oddly enough, for capacity reasons, Air Baltic has to rent wet lease equipment and crews for its own flight operations.

The YL-ABN, which has now been ceremoniously welcomed to Riga, is the second aircraft in the fleet to be painted in the national colors of Latvia. The “anniversary” was extensively celebrated. A particular highlight of the event was the start of cooperation between Air Baltic and the XXVII. nationwide Latvian song and dance festival where airBaltic is the official airline of the festival. The event was attended by around 500 people, including company and airport employees, partners, friends, and Latvian and foreign officials.

“This is a special day for Air Baltic and the country and we are proud to have had the opportunity to carry the name of Latvia to the world for 27 years. And that with one of the most modern aircraft, which is the heart of our airline. At the same time, we are aware of the great importance of the Song and Dance Festival for every Latvian and the whole nation and we are honored to be able to make our contribution to the occasion. We will make sure that wherever our planes fly, as many people as possible know about the festival, which Air Baltic employees will take part in as singers, dancers, musicians and volunteers,” explains company boss Martin Gauss.

The following slideshow shows some impressions of the celebration: