RARE VIP A350! German Air Force Airbus A350-900 at Calgary Airport

Last Wednesday, this German Air Force Airbus A350 flew into Calgary from Cologne.
I'm not sure why it was here or who was on board, but a government A350 is a very uncommon sight here!
It stayed overnight and left early on Thursday morning back to Germany, and was fortunately parked in a really nice spot to see it! Enjoy this rare VIP-configured A350!
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FLIGHT INFORMATION
Airline: German Air Force (GAF)
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900 (A359)
Flight Number: GAF918
Livery: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Engines: 2x Rolls Royce Trent XWB
Registration: 10+03
Route: Cologne (CGN) - Calgary (YYC) - Cologne (CGN)
Callsign: GERMAN AIR FORCE 918 heavy
Runway used: 35L
Date filmed: October 2022
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Outro song - "Take Flight" by Nyhtian: • Nyhtian - Take Flight ...
© Alex Praglowski Aviation 2022
This video is the property of Alex Praglowski Aviation and may not be used for any purpose without prior permission. Contact me at the email in the "About" section of my channel for usage.

[@thebigdog360]

She was carrying German troops for Chemical and Bioweapons training in Medicine Hat for two weeks. Strange that they got a ride on the VIP transport, but I doubt the soldiers complained!

[@agamemnom]

i suspect the reason the soldiers got the A350 is the range because the usual german airforce transport is the airbus A400M from the late 2000's and calgary even with a low payload is stretching its range capabilities whereas the A350-900 is practically brand new and has potentially twice the range. Got to assume its cheaper to use the newer plane with a better range than have a second plane refuel them mid-air :)

[@B52Stratofortress1]

Head of state aircraft often have some normal coach seating in the rear of the plane, used for the press and any other staff that the leader brings along that aren't important enough to sit in the VIP cabin.

[@spongebubatz]

To add to that, this A350 was delivered with an interim cabin, so not the full VIP cabin the A340s have. The other two A350s are still in Hamburg for VIP conversion and they have been there for pretty much a year now. Meanwhile this A350 was delivered after 3 months of conversion.

[@thebigdog360]

All three comments make sense. I guess Germany doesn’t really have any long range transports like the A330MRTT except for the A340 and A350.

[@partypooper6982]

@@agamemnom appreciate that very detailed explanation:)))

[@DOMINICAAVIATION]

That is sure a special capture and sight! Nicely done, Alex!

[@CorPro]

One beautiful bird! And lovely photography!!!

[@annetteslife]

What a beautiful bird!🤘

[@CJetsPlanespotting]

Great video! This was truly incredible to see up close.

[@patrickfinn6590]

Brilliant video as always!!

[@ph11p3540]

I wonder how many cans of buffing agent that plane took to look that shiny and optically smooth paint. The Germans were always best at making the best optics.

[@JakesAviation]

Great catch Alex!!!

[@sebsaviationyyc]

Cool shots! I didn't manage to see this one, but it looks pretty nice!

[@Phiziks]

Great video Alex. back in November of 2020 she made a surprise visit to Canberra CBR direct from Cologne. If I recall correctly it was because we had 0 Covid and they wanted to do range proving excersises. Now that would've been a long flight. :)

[@anels9]

very nice video alex

[@PLANEMANIA747]

Close-up of landing gear moving 🤩🤩 Beautiful video ❤❤

[@TypeOneSpotter]

Congrats on the catch bro! Hope to see you In Tel Aviv one day!

[@MrPeter924]

Great video great view. Airplane. 👍

[@jonweigand3712]

vielen dank für das video.

[@johnmcqueen4883]

Nice catch, Alex. I am always intrigued by the A-350 winglets (or whatever they’re called on the 350). It’s like an optical illusion as they seem to go from almost flat to vertical and then curved inward, depending on the angle of the shot. Can anyone explain to me why this is? In any case, it is fun to watch!

[@marcusdamberger]

Nice catch as always Alex! It's lit up so nicely at night! Has a light for each of it's rear landing gear's, (7:07) I assume to see tarmac edges when they are turning; camera facing down on each side? Also lights on the leading edge blending into the winglets (8:27), looks so elegant. And of course lights on the tail, showing that proud German flag.

[@larsw8776]

They should definitely make that flag bigger or paint an eagle on it, too much white space!

[@274727]

A350 number 10+03 Kurt Schumacher. The other two are named 10+01 Konrad Adenauer and 10+02 Theodor Heuss. 😎

[@dennis12dec]

These aircrafts were named in honor of 3 persons in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Konrad Adenauer - 1st Chancellor or Die Bundeskanzler Theodor Heuss - First Federal President Kurt Schumacher - 1st Social Democratic Party Leader

[@ApexAviation9782]

What a close-up!

[@larsw8776]

Dschörmen Ehrfors... Thanks for uploading.

[@ProAvgeek6328]

The ultimate private jet

[@coopertheaviator7301]

She also flew into Toronto last week from cologne

[@MSRTA_Productions]

Wow 😯🔥

[@lf8761]

for me as a german it would be a dream to sit on this a350 its so beautifull

[@MausTheGerman]

Cool 👌

[@MausTheGerman]

Here are some insights to our Air Force VIP planes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYWWlpKwgdCkhrs&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

[@Canadian_Yoshi]

imagine if i parody an alex praglowski video...

[@JordanKoolVlog]

Did u say it came in from Kelowna?

[@ropshubop]

Likely further energy export negotiations. The company I work for , Repsol Canada, is currently working out a deal to sell LNG from Alberta via our terminal in New Brunswick. Germany are facing a very severe energy shortage going into this winter and are working urgently to secure supply.

[@MaxR.]

As said before. They don't have the full VIP interior yet. That's why the old A340 is mostly used for the German chancellor. Also the self protection is not yet fully operational

[@gmitchellfamily]

Mmmm even the landing gear is shiny.

[@mike4food]

Yet Canada still has an A310……

[@sebsaviationyyc]

Yeah, they'll need to replace it eventually.. hopefully with something like an A350

[@lxz427]

already get third hand? A310 from Germany lol

[@lxz427]

@@sebsaviationyyc a330 Mrtt Second hands…

[@mike4food]

@@sebsaviationyyc Mexico was selling their Dreamliner a few years ago for a stupid deal and we should have bought it.

[@sebsaviationyyc]

@@mike4food Yeah, that would've been a good opportunity

[@r.m.9450]

This is not the official " German Chancellor Plane " It is a support aircraft. The official plane would be " 10 01 "

[@kho8531]

The A 350-900 Bundesrepublik Deutschland "Kurt Schumacher"...

[@erik_griswold]

The original A310s that were used in this service came from the GDR airline Interflug.

[@argirizorbas1126]

I am not the greatest plane spotter. But isn't that a 787 dreamliner?

[@arnaudh.681]

No. They always used Airbus : A310, A340 and now A350.

[@CorPro]

The noses do look very similar. A quick trick is to look at the far left or far right window pane. The A350 looks like it has a slightly droopy eye compared to the 787.

[@CorPro]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iH_Mn5mabbN9fqs

[@joyforeveryone8319]

@@arnaudh.681 "The Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit (MMU) (Airbus A330 MRTT) The MMF aircraft will be operated by the Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit (MMU) comprising of military personnel of the participating nations. The unit is based in two permanent operating bases, the Main Operating Base (MOB) in Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and the Forward Operating Base + (FOB+) in Cologne-Wahn (Germany). Among the eight MMF aircraft, five will be based at the MOB in Eindhoven, and four at the FOB+ in Cologne. Germany is the largest contributor with a share of 5,500 hours a year (1,100 hours a year = "One" A330 e. g. Germany uses 5 out of 9 aircraft). The Netherlands will take up 2,000 hours a year. Belgium will take 1,000 hours, Luxembourg 200 hours and Norway and Czechia will take 100 hours a year each. As the projected utilisation will be 1100 flying hours per aircraft per year, the fleet of of 8 (9) aircraft is fully committed. Further information: www.nspa.nato.int/news/2020/the-multinational-mrtt-fleet-project-makes-steady-progress

[@nolanono2532]

If you look at the ends of the wings, the 787s curve up slightly while the A350 curves up all the way vertically

[@wildbill6676]

Alex the Germans were in YYC for meetings regarding securing energy for Germany. Cool video.

[@joyforeveryone8319]

"The Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit (MMU) (Airbus A330 MRTT) The MMF aircraft will be operated by the Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit (MMU) comprising of military personnel of the participating nations. The unit is based in two permanent operating bases, the Main Operating Base (MOB) in Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and the Forward Operating Base + (FOB+) in Cologne-Wahn (Germany). Among the eight MMF aircraft, five will be based at the MOB in Eindhoven, and four at the FOB+ in Cologne. Germany is the largest contributor with a share of 5,500 hours a year (1,100 hours a year = "One" A330 e. g. Germany uses 5 out of 9 aircraft). The Netherlands will take up 2,000 hours a year. Belgium will take 1,000 hours, Luxembourg 200 hours and Norway and Czechia will take 100 hours a year each. As the projected utilisation will be 1100 flying hours per aircraft per year, the fleet of of 8 (9) aircraft is fully committed. Further information: www.nspa.nato.int/news/2020/the-multinational-mrtt-fleet-project-makes-steady-progress