Magnetic MRO paints airBaltic’s A220-300 into a special livery
Magnetic MRO has painted Latvian airline airBaltic’s A220-300 aircraft into a unique one-off livery, celebrating Latvia’s 100th birthday. One of the first A220 aircraft painted outside of OEM, the special project was completed under secrecy in Magnetic MRO’s Tallinn Paint Hangar in cooperation with airBaltic and coatings partner AkzoNobel. The special livery was unveiled at an official ceremony in Riga Airport on Friday, November 9th in the presence of the President of Latvia, Raimonds Vējonis, and the CEO of Air Baltic, Martin Gauss. “We were very honoured and humbled to be trusted with the painting of Latvia’s flag carrier’s aircraft for such a momentous occasion. As it was the aircraft type’s first custom paint job in the world, the project posed minor challenges and our team demonstrated ultimate commitment and teamwork, which lead to excellent final finish, genuine result and very satisfied customer,” stated Kaspars Podins, Operations Manager of Magnetic MRO. The unique livery, depicting Latvia’s flag colours on the fuselage was applied onto airBaltic’s newest generation aircraft, A220-300. The one-month-old aircraft registered as YL-CSL will now fly across Europe and Asia, spreading the message of Latvia’s 100th birthday all over the globe. “airBaltic team is delighted and honoured to present this special gift to Latvia on its centenary, which is a historical event for every Latvian. Now the flag of Latvia will proudly wave above our heads high in the skies and travel around the world. We were very pleased with the work Magnetic MRO had done on this special project and are looking forward to future cooperation,” said Andris Vaivads, DT Technical Department of airBaltic. “It has been a busy first year for our dedicated paint hangar since opening it 12 months ago. Including regular projects, we also completed a business jet and now the first A220. This latest paint job for airBaltic is a great achievement for us and for the Latvian people,” stated Magnetic MRO’s Painting Department Manager, Rihards Priedkalns.