airBaltic will commence its two-year wet-lease agreement with Air Serbia this Saturday, initially providing two Airbus A220-300 aircraft along with crew, maintenance and insurance. The number of aircraft will increase to four from the summer of 2026. Andrejs Martinovs, Chairman of airBaltic’s Supervisory Board, revealed the carrier beat fourteen other European companies competing for the contract. The airline also played down concerns raised by Latvia’s State Security Service over Air Serbia’s operations to Russia, stressing that its aircraft will not be deployed on those routes. Between November and the end of March, airBaltic’s A220-300s are scheduled to operate a total of 848 Air Serbia operations (or 424 flights in each direction).
airBaltic will make its debut on behalf of Air Serbia on November 1, operating the morning service between Belgrade and Zurich. In an unusual twist, both Air Serbia and Swiss will be utilising wet-leased airBaltic aircraft on the same route this winter. So far, airBaltic’s A220-300s have been scheduled on select Air Serbia flights to nineteen destinations from Belgrade during the winter season. These include: Malaga, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Athens, Barcelona (one flight), Paris, Dusseldorf, Istanbul, Larnaca, London, Lisbon, Madrid, Malta, Milan, Porto, Oslo, Thessaloniki (one flight), Valencia and Zurich. The aircraft will be used most frequently on services to Paris (107 flights in total), followed by Amsterdam (71), London (38), Oslo (35) and Larnaca (34).
The A220 offer a step-change in cabin profile versus the outgoing GetJet A320s that served on behalf of Air Serbia over the past years, while also letting the Serbian carrier gather real-world data on costs and passenger feedback before any future narrow-body refresh. The Serbian carrier has explicitly positioned the deal as both a capacity bridge and a live A220 evaluation platform. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News in June, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, noted, “We’re actively exploring long-term fleet development. However, this is a complex process, not only due to limited availability in current order books, but also because many of the aircraft types we would logically consider still face ongoing engine reliability issues. We’re determined not to repeat mistakes made elsewhere in the industry. At the same time, the secondary market is becoming more active, which aligns with our current fleet strategy. While we’re certainly examining future fleet renewal, I wouldn’t expect any firm decisions before 2027. And even then, deliveries will depend on availability”.
