Airline costs expected to rise next year due to lack of resources, says SmartLynx Airlines CEO

Edvinas Demenius, CEO at SmartLynx Airlines, has said that he expects airline costs to increase next year amid a lack of resources including crew and availability of spare parts.

SmartLynx Airlines, is a Latvia-based aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance (ACMI), cargo and charter operator that has a strong presence in Malta. The airline has a subsidiary registered in Malta called SmartLynx Malta, which recently celebrated five years since the establishment of its Santa Venera office. Its fleet features Airbus A320, A321, A321F, A330, and Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft registered under the Latvian, Estonian and Maltese AOCs registry.

Like many airlines across Europe, SmartLynx Airlines has enjoyed pent-up demand following the COVID-19 pandemic, and on Monday it announced that it recorded 1.1 million passengers in July 2024. This is the first time that it has surpassed one million passengers in a single month.

Commenting on this, Mr Demenius remarked that at the start of 2024, the airline’s management predicted that passenger demand would surpass pre-pandemic levels for the first time, and the forecasts “have proven accurate.”

“Currently, demand for ACMI services exceeds supply, and our team is working actively to support our partners,” he continued.

During the same month, Malta International Airport welcomed 951,861 passengers, an “unprecedented” increased of 12.2 per cent over the record passenger volumes that were handled in 2023. July 2024 was also the busiest month in the airport’s history, being the first-ever month to surpass 900,000 passenger movements. As a result, the airport has had to embark on a project to increase its capacity to cater to the rising demand for travel.

Mr Demenius, while speaking on SmartLynx Airlines’ results, acknowledged that the performances of airlines and airports are positive, yet there is still room for improvement.

“Market growth would be even more significant if the industry did not lack resources like crew and technical specialists and the availability of spare parts,” he remarked.

“Judging by the circumstances, we believe that airline costs will increase next year,” Mr Demenius continued.

During the summer, SmartLynx has provided flight capacity services to some of the busiest carriers in Europe and Southeast Asia, including IndiGo, Ajet, and TUI, completing 6,689 flights in July alone, a 42 per cent increase from the previous year.