The journey home

All of airBaltic’s aircraft are assembled in a facility of over 1.4 million square feet located in Mirabel, Canada. Behind each aircraft delivery, around 3 000 people in Mirabel are directly or indirectly involved. When an aircraft is ready, a team from airBaltic heads to Canada to fly the new plane home.

The final assembly line for the Airbus A220-300 in Mirabel. Most of the aircraft components are sourced from various suppliers around the world. For example, the wings are made in the United Kingdom, the horizontal and vertical stabilisers (empennage) in Italy, the engines in the United States, and the landing gear in Germany.

In March of this year, airBaltic’s CEO Martin Gauss travelled to the Airbus factory to take part in an event honouring the cooperation between the two companies and the two countries – Latvia and Canada. This is plane number 40 for airBaltic and already its second with the special livery in the colours of the Latvian flag, prepared specially to celebrate the Latvian Song and Dance Festival, which is one of the most important cultural events in Latvia.

The plane is ready for the ferry flight to Riga. It’s already registered in the Latvian Aircraft Register and is flying with Latvian national registration marks. The airBaltic crew and delivery team are already on board, and the aircraft is fully equipped to begin commercial flights shortly after delivery to Riga. This particular aircraft will take off with passengers just five hours after delivery.

Jānis Bitenieks, Fleet Project Manager at airBaltic, explains that the aircraft must undergo a meticulous aircraft acceptance process before it can be flown home. Because the aircraft was assembled in Canada, the initial inspection and certification was carried out by Transport Canada. Once the certificate was received, the airBaltic acceptance team travelled to Mirabel to begin the aircraft acceptance process. The team consisted of a pilot, a technician, several engineers, and an acceptance manager.

After the acceptance flight and several other checks, when the airBaltic team was satisfied that the aircraft is in top condition, the transfer of title took place. It was granted Latvian national registration marks and an airworthiness certificate issued by the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency. The aircraft has now been accepted, the First Officer has joined the team, and they’re ready to fly the aircraft to Riga.

Captain Jacob Cornelis Ignatz den Ouden and First Officer Jānis Rubenis prepare for departure to Riga. This is the first time Rubenis has gone to Canada to pick up a plane. ‘When I arrived and saw the new plane, I was very excited,’ he says. The flight to Riga takes seven hours and 26 minutes.

A view of southern Greenland. The flight route almost always passes over Greenland, but one doesn’t get to see the island that often, because the weather is usually cloudy there. The team consisted of a pilot, a technician, several engineers, and an acceptance manager.

The plane shortly after its arrival in Riga. There, it’s met by the ground handling team and technicians, who soon set about doing the final preparations for commercial flights. They need to check the emergency equipment, remove the life rafts that need to be on board for long ocean crossings, and upload the airBaltic-specific content that passengers will see on their cabin display screens.

airBaltic’s main office and the new home of its Airbus A220-300 aircraft.

As stated by Rob Dewar, Senior Vice President, Customer Satisfaction, Services, and A220 Product Policy at Airbus Canada, ‘This aircraft symbolises Airbus’ long-standing collaboration and continued partnership with airBaltic as both companies strive to bring passengers the most sustainable and comfortable flying experience. The A220 has reached over 1.5 million flight hours and connected more than 90 million passengers thus far.’