AirBaltic - Nutcracker Airplane Ballet

AirBaltic - Nutcracker Airplane Ballet

For many people the holiday season just isn’t complete until they’ve piled their loved ones into the car and driven to their performing venue of choice to see The Nutcracker. Leading on from that theme, Latvian airline airBaltic partnered with Montreál, Canada-based aircraft manufacturer Bombardier to take that tradition to dizzying new heights by staging a performance of Tchaikovsky’a beloved, Christmas-set ballet starring the airline’s most recent addition to their fleet, a shiny new Bombardier CS300. Yes, you read that correctly, even the airplanes “dance” ballet beautifully in Latvia.

Commemorating the late November delivery of the first of the 13 Bombardier CSeries 300’s that airBaltic will introduce to service in the next few months, the carrier produced a sweet and very funny spot recently to celebrate the occasion.

Taking a mockumentary, Waiting for Guffman-style behind-the-scenes approach to the production of what is undoubtedly the world’s first airplane ballet, the clip showcases the comical efforts of airBaltic team members and an actor playing a world famous “experimental choreographer” to bring the carrier’s boldly original vision to life on the tarmac.

Funny, charming and often breathtakingly beautiful to behold, the clip doesn’t just showcase Bombardier’s gorgeous new CS300 but also highlights the fun, off-kilter approach that airBaltic takes to making sure their passenger experience is second to none. And by filtering the campaign through the lens of a classic, time-honored holiday tradition like The Nutcracker ballet, the clip has a sweetly nostalgic feel that has already garnered it a bit of a cult following online.

Already viewed upwards of 100,000 times on YouTube alone, the campaign has also been a huge hit on social media, especially on airBaltic’s Facebook page where the clip has been shared 3.6K times (and counting) and viewed more than 641,000 times since it went live just a few days before Christmas.

airBaltic’s cheeky, unusual approach to the heartfelt holiday airline ads of old has also proven to be a huge hit with the press with the campaign receiving rave reviews everywhere from FlightGlobal.com and TravelFree.info to the Asian offshoot of the hugely popular budget travel website Fly4Free.com and BoardingArea.com .

And judging by the popularity of the clip online, this Nutcracker-themed marketing campaign could prove to be the best gift under the tree for both airBaltic and Bombardier, not just this holiday season, but for many to come as well.