airBaltic has signed a new wet lease agreement with Lufthansa Group in preparation to reduce its Airbus A220-300 fleet to 36 aircraft in 2027. Under the agreement, airBaltic will operate up to six Airbus A220-300s with crew for Lufthansa during the summer season and four during the winter season. Wet lease operations will form part of airBaltic's activities alongside its own scheduled network, and the new longer-term agreement will continue the existing cooperation and "enable more balanced capacity allocation in line with the airline's new business plan".
The wet-lease partnership is long-standing: in 2024, Lufthansa announced it was extending its wet lease agreement with airBaltic for three more years starting in the summer of 2025, a contract that allowed airBaltic to deploy up to 21 additional Airbus A220-300 aircraft during summer 2025 and five more aircraft during the following winter. airBaltic will also continue its wet lease cooperation with Air Serbia, with four aircraft planned for the summer season and two for the winter season. "Lufthansa Group's decision to extend our cooperation for the coming seasons reflects the trust we have built together over the past years," said Mantas Vrubliauskas, VP Network Management at airBaltic. "Our partners value airBaltic as a reliable ACMI provider, with consistent operational performance and positive feedback from both the airlines we fly for and their passengers."
The deal is part of airBaltic's financial reset. Earlier this year, airBaltic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US and confirmed plans to reduce its all-Airbus A220-300 fleet from 54 aircraft to 36 before gradually returning to around 40 by 2031. In October 2026, airBaltic also confirmed that between 500 and 700 staff members could lose their jobs; the airline currently employs around 3,000 people across the Baltics. The cost-cutting measures are part of the airline's new business plan announced in August 2026, to prioritise "financial stability first, growth second".