Originally Posted by
D Bru
One probably also has to wonder why the EU's three baltic states with a combined 6,5 million population would need to be served by a 55 strong fleet of A220s, as is the case with Air Baltics. For comparison, an absolutely similar sized market like Bulgaria, EU, is served by Bulgaria Air's five A220s, So how 55 versus 5 aircraft in a similar sized market?
By this logic, EU country Ireland (population 5.3 million) which hosts the headquarters of Ryanair (fleet 647 aircraft) and Aer Lingus (fleet 62) must be completely on the brink seeing as Ireland has a considerably smaller population than Bulgaria (population 6.68 million).
The answer is twofold.
Firstly, the EU has one giant aviation market. From 1 January 1993, EU-registered airlines gained the right to fly between any EU member state and operate domestic routes within other EU countries creating a single European aviation market in which Air Baltic and every EU airline operates.
Secondly, the size and strength of the domestic economy. Lithuania's economy is about the same size as Bulgaria's. When combined with Latvia and Estonia, the three countries have a combined economy which is approximately 1.5 to 2 times the size of the Bulgarian economy.
Bulgaria is the poorest member state by far within the European Union with the lowest Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) per capita in the EU, at roughly 34% below the EU average in 2024.
In 2024, approximately 16.6% of the Bulgarian population faced severe material and social deprivation, placing it near the bottom of EU rankings.
For these reasons, you cannot compare 'market size' by simply looking at population alone.