Airbus Military has begun final assembly of the first production A400M, slated for the French Air Force. The company says that delivery of this aircraft (MSN7) is on schedule for the first quarter of 2013, thanks to good progress in the flight-test program.
The next customer to take delivery will be Turkey, also in 2013, followed by the UK, Germany and Malaysia, all in the second half of 2014. By the time that Spain takes delivery of its first aircraft in late 2015, the production rate will have reached the maximum of 28 to 30. The remaining partner, Belgium, does not require delivery of its first aircraft until late 2018. “We will have slots available for new customers in 2016-17, in between further deliveries to the European partners,” said Gustavo Garcia Miranda, v-p of market development, at the recent Dubai Air Show. He predicted that Airbus Military would sell 300 A400Ms over the next 20 years, of a total forecast demand for 800 heavy airlifters during that period.
The fuselage of the first production A400M is unloaded from a Beluga freighter nose-docked at the Airbus Military factory in Seville. (Photo: Airbus Military)
