Gallery: Behind The Scenes At AirBaltic’s Riga MRO Facilities

AirBaltic added capability to perform in-house C checks on its constantly growing Airbus A220-300 fleet in 2019. Aviation Week recently visited the airBaltic Technic facilities in Riga, Latvia to get a behind the scenes look at its maintenance operations.

AirBaltic took delivery of its first A220 in November 2016. It now has 47 A220-300s in operation, with three more to be delivered in 2024. AirBaltic is the world’s largest A220-300 operator.

AirBaltic’s main hangar in Riga offers three lines for heavy base maintenance. During Aviation Week’s visit, one aircraft was undergoing what the airline calls a “1 C check,” which is necessary after three years, and two were receiving “2 C checks.”

Pictured here is one of 10 Pratt & Whitney PW15121G engines sitting in airBaltic’s hangar and waiting for a slot at an MRO provider.

The A220-300 pictured here was undergoing a 1 C check. AirBaltic has now performed several 2 C checks, which is close to the D check. As of February, it has performed 31 C checks total in Riga.

A view inside an A220-300 undergoing a 2 C check. Aircraft are grounded for 25 days for a 1 C check and for 55 days for a 2 C check. However, airBaltic says this time target can be difficult to reach because of technical findings on the aircraft or supply chain delays.

An empty cockpit inside an A220-300 undergoing a 2 C check.

An airBaltic technician looks into an engine through a borescope. AirBaltic President and CEO Martin Gauss says engines are now spending around 3,500-4,000 hr. on wing.

According to airBaltic, 1 C checks must be performed after three years or 8,500 flight hours. Components, including cabin parts, must be removed and maintained.

All seats are removed from the aircraft cabin during large checks.

Gauss says airBaltic had to establish its own shops and technical expertise for carbon work. The airline says maintenance for aircraft brakes is expensive, and several components will be sent out to other MRO providers.

According to Andris Vaivads, senior vice president of technical operations at airBaltic, the engine, plus supply chain and engineering support, are the main challenges for servicing the A220-300. For example, when airBaltic finds corrosion and reports it to Airbus, it sometimes has to wait a couple of months for an answer from the OEM before it can pursue a solution.

AirBaltic’s technical department currently has more than 520 employees. It says 10-15 employees join the department every week.

Hangar space has become limited in Riga as airBaltic’s fleet continues to grow. The airline has rented additional hangar space at the airport, for example, to perform line maintenance.

This year airBaltic plans to begin construction of new hangar with eight lines for A220 maintenance, which it says will be the largest hangar in the Baltic states. The new hangar is expected to be ready in 2026. AirBaltic says it will be a “high double digit million euro” investment.

“The current three hangars we have, we continue to need for other kinds of maintenance—plus, the new one will just not be enough for 50 plus aircraft,” says Gauss. “As we plan to come to 100 aircraft and we plan to do third-party business, we are now evaluating if we will use temporary hangars in between and then evaluating what else we can do.”