Water salute (Wassertaufe): when airport fire crews greet aircraft with fountains

The jet has just left the runway and is taxiing toward the terminal when two red fire trucks pull up at the edge of the taxiway. The roof nozzles rise, water shoots up, and an arch of spray closes over the asphalt. Slowly the aircraft taxis through, and cameras click at the fence. A water salute – in German usually called Wassertaufe or Wasserbogen – is one of the most beautiful rituals in airport operations and, for spotters, a subject that exists only once. Here you learn what is behind it, on which occasions the fire crews turn out, what has gone wrong before and how to get the fountain on your picture.

Water salute: the short answer

A water salute is a tribute by the airport fire department with water. At least two fire trucks line up opposite each other at a taxiway or at the edge of the apron. Their nozzles spray the water diagonally upward so that the jets meet over the middle and form an arch. The aircraft taxis through at walking pace. On bigger occasions, several pairs of vehicles stand one behind the other, and a kind of water tunnel forms.

The image is no coincidence reminiscent of a guard of honor at a wedding or the saber arch at military celebrations. It is the same principle: whoever passes through the arch – or here, taxis – is honored. The salute is not a regulation and not a procedure from a rulebook, but a voluntary gesture by the airport and fire department. That is why it looks a little different everywhere.

Where the water salute comes from

When and where the first water salute took place at an airport is not clearly documented. What is clear is that there is a closely related tradition in seafaring: there, fireboats greet ships with high fountains, for example on the first or last call at a port, the maiden voyage of a cruise ship, the retirement of a captain or the visit of a warship.

In aviation, the airport fire department has taken over the role of the fireboats. That fits well, because their airfield fire trucks are built for exactly this kind of water throw: they carry large water tanks and have powerful roof nozzles that can spray over long distances. Why these vehicles are so big and how much extinguishing agent an airport has to keep ready is explained in the article on the ICAO fire categories of the airport fire department.

The German term “Wassertaufe” has become established mainly for premieres, that is, first flights and new aircraft. It has nothing to do with the actual aircraft christening, in which an aircraft receives a name – that is covered in the article Aircraft christening names.

The typical occasions

The occasions for a water salute are similar worldwide. Roughly, they can be divided into premieres, farewells and tributes.

Occasion	Typical example	How plannable for spotters?
First flight of an airline to the airport	A new airline starts a route	good – start dates are announced long in advance
New route of a known airline	First rotation of a new destination	good – flight number and time are in the schedule
First visit or delivery of a new type	New long-haul aircraft arrives at the home base	medium – ferry flights often shift
Last flight of an airline, a type or an aircraft	Farewell of a fleet	good to medium – often announced, details at short notice
Retirement of a pilot or controller	Last landing before retirement	hard – usually only known internally
Tributes	Transfer of fallen soldiers, special guests	hard – often deliberately not public

For spotters the first four categories are the most interesting, because they can be prepared for. How to find first and farewell flights early is covered in detail in the guide Spotting farewell and first flights. For new aircraft, the article on delivery and ferry flights helps, because the first arrival at the home base in particular is often celebrated with a water arch.

Premieres: first flights and new routes

The most common occasion is route premieres. When an airline flies to an airport for the first time, it is a publicity appearance for both sides: the airport shows that it is winning new connections, and the airline gets nice pictures for its channels. A few documented examples:

• flydubai in Faisalabad, 2015: For the first flight from Dubai on July 10, 2015, the fire department in Pakistan formed a water arch, which the industry portal anna.aero then recognized in its “Arch of Triumph” section for particularly successful salutes. More on the airline is in the profile of flydubai.
• easyJet in Gibraltar, 2016: The start of a new connection by easyJet was also celebrated with a water arch at Gibraltar Airport.
• Great Dane Airlines in Aalborg, 2019: The new Danish airline was sent off with a water arch for its first flight on June 14, 2019 in Aalborg.
• Air Serbia in Shanghai, 2025: For the premiere of the connection between Belgrade and Shanghai, the Air Serbia flight was greeted with water fountains on January 11, 2025 at Shanghai Pudong Airport.

New aircraft

The arrival of a new aircraft type is also a classic occasion. When an airline ferries its first example of a new model to its home base – in recent years often the Airbus A350-900 – the fire department not rarely waits there with a water arch. Such pictures then end up in the press releases of airline and airport and are also sought after by spotters, because the aircraft can often still be seen in perfect paint and with a fresh registration.

Farewells

The most famous example is the Concorde’s farewell. At the last departure of British Airways from New York JFK on October 24, 2003, the fire trucks sprayed water in red, white and blue. The supersonic jet now stands as a historic type in our aircraft type profile of the Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde, and its history is told in the article Concorde history. Farewells of individual aircraft or entire fleets have been staged similarly at many airports since then – often with a lap of honor, a special flight number and a water arch.

Personal tributes

Less visible but just as widespread is the salute for people: the last landing of a captain before retirement, the farewell of longtime air traffic controllers or firefighters. In some places the water salute is also part of the honor ceremony when the remains of fallen soldiers are flown home. Such occasions are usually not announced publicly – and out of respect you should not treat them like a spotting event either.

How a water salute works

Even though every airport has its own routine, the salute almost always follows the same pattern.

The last point is important: the airport fire department must be ready for action at all times. Under ICAO requirements, the first vehicles must reach any point of an operational runway within a few minutes. A salute is therefore planned so that the minimum equipment for ongoing operations is not endangered – and if an alarm comes, it naturally takes precedence. What everyday life at the station looks like is described in the article Working for the airport fire department.

When the water salute goes wrong

As harmless as the salute looks, it is not entirely without risk. The best-known incident happened on May 9, 2016 in Zhuhai in southern China. On that day Air Changan resumed operations as an independent airline, and the arriving aircraft was to be greeted with the usual water arch. Instead, the fire trucks accidentally sprayed fire-fighting foam. The aircraft then had to undergo a safety inspection, and the return flight was cancelled.

The case shows why fire crews have to separate water and foam agent cleanly during a salute: foam does not belong on sensors, windows and in engine inlets, and cleaning takes time. There are further reasons why a salute can be dropped:

Water shortage has indeed been a reason before: during the severe drought in the southeastern US in 2007, Atlanta Airport refrained, among other things, from greeting aircraft with water at a pilot’s last landing before retirement. And at sub-freezing temperatures, water on wings and tail is anything but desirable – why is explained in the article on de-icing aircraft.

Catching the water salute as a spotter

The water arch often lasts only a minute or two. Anyone who wants to photograph it therefore needs preparation instead of luck.

Gathering information

The most reliable hints come from airports and airlines themselves: press releases about new routes, announcements of farewell flights, the airports’ social media channels. They do not always mention the salute itself beforehand, but the occasion – for example the first flight of a new connection for the summer schedule – is usually known weeks ahead. How to evaluate the day’s flight schedule is covered in the article on arrival and departure schedules. On the day itself, a look at live flight tracking is worthwhile: with the guide Flight tracking with ADS-B you know when the aircraft really lands.

Choosing the right spot

This is where the most common mistake lies: many people stand at the approach path for the first flight. That is good for the landing shot, but the water arch is almost always on a taxiway between runway and terminal or right at the apron. So you need a spot that overlooks this area:

• Observation decks and elevated points at the terminal often offer the best view of taxiways and apron.
• Hills and platforms on the runway side work if the salute takes place on a nearby exit taxiway – such as the Munich Airport visitors’ hill (Besucherhügel), the Affenfelsen (monkey rock) in Hamburg or the Zeppelinheim viewing platform in Frankfurt.
• If you want two subjects, decide beforehand: landing or water arch. Getting both from one spot rarely works.

The article Taxiways, holding points and signs helps you judge which taxiways lead where at your airport. The profiles of the airports in Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt give you an overview of runways and terminals.

Light and technique

Water is a rewarding but tricky subject. A few basic rules:

• Sun behind you: If the sun is behind you, the water jets glow bright against the sky – and with a bit of luck a rainbow shows up in the spray. Backlight, on the other hand, turns the arch into a gray wall. How to calculate the light direction in advance is explained in Planning the sun position.
• Short exposure time: To freeze individual drops, you need a very short shutter speed. A longer time lets the water flow softly – both can be appealing, so decide deliberately.
• Burst mode: The moment when the cockpit is exactly under the crest of the arch lasts only an instant. With burst mode you catch it more reliably.
• Keep focal length flexible: A zoom lets you first take the whole ensemble with both vehicles and then the aircraft in the arch filling the frame. What else belongs in the bag is in the gear checklist.

What to keep in mind

• The salute is not part of the timetable. It can be cancelled, moved or shortened at short notice. Plan so that the day is worthwhile even without a fountain.
• Premieres are often the first rotation. The salute is usually for the very first flight of a connection, not the following ones. If you miss it, it generally does not repeat.
• The fire department itself is a subject. Even without a salute, fire trucks at drills or standby are worth a look – background on vehicles and equipment is in the article on the airport fire department.
• Clean documentation pays off. Note date, flight number, registration and occasion. A photo of a first flight is a piece of airport history in a few years.
• Mind the season. Many new routes start with the summer schedule at the end of March – then the chance of a water arch is especially high. More on the rhythm of the spotter year is under Plane spotting through the year.

Conclusion

The water salute is a small ceremony with a big effect: two fire trucks, an arch of water, an aircraft in the middle. With it, the airport fire department honors premieres, farewells and people who have spent their working lives in aviation. The gesture is voluntary, can be dropped at any time and is not without pitfalls, as the foam incident in Zhuhai shows. For spotters it is one of the rarest subjects of all – plannable mainly for first flights and farewells, if you have taxiway, light and timing under control.