AirBaltic unveils 50th A220-300 with new livery
January 11, 2025
Latvian airline airBaltic has unveiled a special livery for its 50th Airbus A220-300, celebrating the milestone with a design that honours the heritage of all three Baltic States—Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.
The eye-catching aircraft, painted at Airbus’s facility in Mirabel, Canada, is expected to join the airline’s fleet in February 2025.
The livery’s design was the result of a global competition launched by airBaltic in late 2023. The airline received 840 entries, which were narrowed down to 21 finalists through voting by more than 28,000 members of the airBaltic Club loyalty programme.
The winning design, capturing over 30% of the votes, features a girl soaring through the clouds with flowing hair adorned by a traditional Latvian wreath, complemented by the Latvian flag.
In addition to the main image, the design incorporates regional symbols, including a ladybird, a swallow, and a stork, all inspired by the Baltic region’s culture and natural beauty. airBaltic’s team worked to adapt the design for the technical specifications of the Airbus A220-300.
The painting of this A220-300 livery was completed over an 18-day period. A total of 21 colours were used to bring the design to life, and for the first time ever, a stencil overlay technique was used to layer colours by the Airbus A220 paintshop teams in Mirabel, Canada.
Martin Gauss, President and CEO of airBaltic: “More than eight years ago, we became the global launch operator of the Airbus A220-300, and over the years, this aircraft type has become the backbone of our operations. This milestone aircraft marks the completion of our initial aircraft order and brings us halfway to our goal of operating a single-type fleet of 100 A220-300s and doubling in size by 2030.”
“airBaltic continues to lead the aviation industry in the Baltics, and with this rich culture in mind, we wanted the livery to reflect a glimpse of all the beauty the three Baltic nations have to offer. Every time this aircraft will take to the skies, it will proudly carry a small part of the Baltic spirit with it,” Gauss added.
Benoît Schultz, CEO of Airbus Canada, said: “airBaltic is currently the largest A220customer in Europe and the largest A220-300 operator in the world. The airline put its trust in the A220, the most efficient aircraft in its size category, with a spacious cabin driving the best ‘Net Promoter Scores’ with passengers.
“Airbus products are defined by innovation so they can connect the world in the most efficient way. Thanks to our A220s around the world, more than 160 million passengers have been connected thus far.”
