Latvia’s SmartLynx to add four more A321 freighters

SmartLynx Airlines (6Y, Riga) will expand its cargo division by converting four of its in-house A321-200s into dedicated freighters, Cargo Facts has reported.

The Latvian ACMI/charter specialist, which until recently operated exclusively in the passenger market, confirmed it would convert YL-LDB (msn 2342), YL-LDA (msn 2903), YL-LCZ (msn 2912), and YL-LCX (msn 3191). All four aircraft are leased from GTLK – State Transport Leasing and are between 14 and 16.7 years of age. They have been barely active since October-November 2020 and are currently parked at Riga, Tallinn Lennart Meri, and Vilnius airports.

GTLK signed the P2F contract with Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) in May 2021, with three units entering to enter the conversion line by the end of 2021 and the fourth one in 2022.

SmartLynx Airlines operates seven A321-200s and three A320-200s, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. SmartLynx Airlines Estonia operates a further two A320-200s and SmartLynx Airlines Malta – six A320-200s and one A321-200.

The Avia Solutions Group-owned carrier inducted its first dedicated freighter, A321-200(PCF) 9H-CGA (msn 891), in early June 2021. Operated by SmartLynx Airlines Malta, the aircraft flies on behalf of DHL Express between Leipzig/Halle and Linz. It plans to add another unit of the type. The Maltese carrier is also in the process of adding five A330-300s in makeshift cargo configuration for use on cargo-only flights but said that in the future, when demand for passenger services returns, it would convert them back to a passenger configuration.

SmartLynx Airlines also wet-leases a B757-200(PCF) from Greece’s Olympus Airways (OLY, Athens Int’l).