Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) plans to lease Airbus A220s from airBaltic over the European winter schedule period to help provide increased resilience for its schedules.
Swiss intends to wet-lease “up to six” A220-300s from the Latvian carrier to stabilize its timetables and provide improved reliability, the Zurich-based operator said Aug. 5.
“On top of this, it should also help further relieve the present pressures on our cabin crew corps,” SWISS Chief Commercial Officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour said. However, Swiss will also continue to recruit and train more of its own cabin personnel.
“AirBaltic is an ideal wet-lease partner for us,” Pour said. “Like us, they operate the ... Airbus A220-300. And they have already performed flights for other airlines of the Lufthansa Group this summer with impressive reliability.”
The 145-seat A220-300s—airBaltic has 36 in its fleet at present—will operate services on Swiss’s European route network that were previously undertaken by the Swiss flag-carrier itself.
The new collaboration with airBaltic is seen as a complement to Swiss’s existing partnership with its compatriots at Helvetic Airways, which operates a mix of Embraer E190s, E190 E2s and E195 E2s.
In addition to the six Helvetic aircraft already operated year-round on Swiss’s routes more Helvetic equipment may be deployed in the future to cover peaks in demand.
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