Centennial celebration for Calgary’s Viking Air

A local aircraft manufacturing company is celebrating a major milestone and unveiled its 100^th Twin Otter Series 400 plane on Thursday.

Viking Air resurrected the aircraft nine years ago after it had been out of production for a number of years.

The 100^th plane was welcomed to Calgary with a little wash by crews from the Calgary Fire Department as it taxied to the hangar.

Assembly starts at Viking’s facility in Victoria and the plane is shipped to Calgary where it is completed. It is then sent back to Victoria for the custom interior work.

Viking put out one Twin Otter from the Calgary hangar in just 15 days and that's something everyone who works at the company is proud of.

“It's because of folks here and in Victoria that are building a quality product on time and we can prove that we can be competitive in the world, so congratulations to you,” said David Curtis, Viking Air CEO.

One of the biggest advantages the aircraft has is that it can land with wheels, floats, or skis.

Viking’s Twin Otter Series 400s are flying in 25 countries around the world and Russia has turned out to be one of its  biggest customers.

For more on the company, click HERE.

(With files from Kevin Fleming)

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  Viking says twin otters will be made as long as there is a demand for them and bigger projects may be on the horizon.