Bombardier announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement for the sale of its emblematic Amphibious Aircraft programme to Viking Air Limited. The agreement covers the Type Certificates for all variants of the water bomber aircraft, the CL-215, the CL-215T and the Bombardier 415 aircraft as well as after-market support for the 170 aircraft currently in service.
The completion of this transaction is subject to the approval of all required governmental and regulatory authorities and the fulfillment of other customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the next few months.
Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare said the move positions Bombardier to better focus on its core, higher-growth businesses. No amphibious aircraft have been produced since December 2015 after Bombardier paused the programme. Viking Air, a long-standing Bombardier collaborator, was seen as the perfect successor.
Plans are underway to transfer the 50 Amphibious Aircraft program employees to other parts of the Bombardier organization following the completion of an orderly transition of the business.
Headquartered in Victoria, BC, Viking is best known as the manufacturer of the Twin Otter Series 400, launched in 2007. Viking says it will support the amphibious aircraft programme from a newly acquired and specially repurposed 50,000ft2 facility in Calgary.