Technology independent: airBaltic leans on training and MRO to succeed where others haven’t

Like many times throughout history, the Baltics are once again becoming a struggle between local and foreign influence. But now, it’s for the airspace above the region. airBaltic is fending off the much more powerful foreign low-cost carriers in the skies above Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — and it’s doing it with technology, including growing self-sufficiency in pilot training, as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities.

When airBaltic increased its order for Airbus A220 jets — then the Bombardier C Series — two years ago, some eyebrows were raised, as they were when the airline indicated the scale of the growth it wanted with its newest latest plan, Destination 2025.

Two years later, 2019 was the crunch year for the strategy, as the Latvian airline expanded its capabilities and closed the circle, becoming fully independent in running its operations, including pilot training and MRO processes. And it truly became the flag carrier of all three Baltic states, finally rubbing out its competition out of the Estonian capital Tallinn and Vilnius in Lithuania.