Story ID: 793 Viking-BombardierFarnborough16
Viking To Acquire Bombardier’s Amphibious Aircraft Division
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: Known for restarting the Twin Otter production line, Viking Air will provide support for the approximately 170 CL-415 and CL-215 firebombers in service.
Word Count: 351
British Columbia-based Viking Air has agreed to acquire fellow Canadian airframer Bombardier’s worldwide amphibious aircraft programs, including the CL-415 waterbomber and the earlier CL-215 and CL-215T versions, the two companies announced last month. The transaction, which is for an undisclosed price, will help Bombardier to bolster a balance sheet that has been dented by various program cost overruns in its commercial and business aircraft activities.

The deal, announced last month, will transfer the type certificates for all variants of Bombardier amphibians to Viking (Outdoor Exhibit 28), ending a chapter for the Montreal-based OEM that stretches back nearly a half-century. Bombardier (Chalet C3) built its first CL-215 in 1967, and its last CL-415 last December, before it paused the program. They remain the only Western aircraft purpose-built for firefighting.

“This transaction supports our goal of rebuilding a clear path to profitable earnings growth and cash generation,” said Bombardier president and CEO Alain Bellemare. “While the Amphibious Aircraft program is part of our long history, this divestiture positions Bombardier to better focus on our core, higher growth businesses, business jets, commercial jets and rail transportation.”

The move follows Viking’s successful revival of the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter. It restarted the production line for the twin-engine utility turboprop—now known as the Twin Otter Series 400—after acquiring the Type Certificates from Bombardier for all out-of-production de Havilland aircraft in 2006.

“This acquisition expands Viking’s capabilities in product support and parts into another vital niche aviation segment, and ensures that a unique and important Canadian innovation stays in Canada,” said David Curtis, Viking president and CEO. “We are proud to add another iconic Canadian aircraft program to Viking’s stable; our aim is to take the 415 to its highest potential and keep these aircraft in service for decades to come.”

Viking will support the approximately 170 amphibious aircraft currently in service from a newly-acquired and refurbished 50,000-sq-ft hangar in Calgary, and once the transaction is approved by regulators it plans to add up to 40 employees to its workforce in Victoria and Calgary.