Air Baltic Signs for 30 More Bombardier CS300s

Bombardier’s C Series orderbook swelled to more than 400 airplanes with Monday’s signing of a new firm purchase agreement with Latvia’s Air Baltic calling for delivery of at least another 30 CS300s. The deal also includes options for 15 CS300s and rights to purchase 15 more, potentially raising its value to $5.9 billion. The contract calls for first deliveries in the fourth quarter of next year, after Air Baltic takes the remaining 12 airplanes from its launch order for 20.

The order increases Air Baltic’s order backlog to 50 CS300s, making it the largest European C Series customer and the second largest in the world. Now flying eight of the Canadian-built narrowbodies, Air Baltic recently hatched a business plan relying on significant route expansion from all three Baltic countries: Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.

“As an early adopter of the C Series, we took a forward-looking decision on advanced technology to support our turnaround plan leading to sustainable profitability, and today we are benefiting from the most fuel-efficient small single-aisle aircraft,” said Air Baltic CEO Martin Gauss. “We successfully executed our fleet modernization strategy, and are excited to further grow our fleet up to 80 CS300 aircraft while phasing out our other aircraft types in the next three years.”

Along with its CS300s, Air Baltic flies 11 aging Boeing 737s and 12 Bombardier Q400 turboprops.

The deal comes as the C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP) prepares to transfer a majority stake in the program to Airbus by the end of June under the terms of a contract signed last October. Under the deal, Airbus will take a 50.01 percent stake in CSALP, while Bombardier and the Quebec provincial government retain 31 percent and 19 percent, respectively.  

CSALP’s headquarters, primary assembly line, and related functions will remain in Québec, expanding Airbus’s industrial footprint with additional C Series production at Airbus’s manufacturing site in Mobile, Alabama.

“The plans for our partnership with the C Series Aircraft Program are progressing well,” said an internal company memo signed by Airbus CEO Tom Enders and Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare. “The approval process is moving ahead faster than expected and as a result, the transaction is set to conclude by the middle of this year. We all know that the C Series is a remarkable aircraft, and we are looking forward to unleashing its full value through our partnership.”