Paris Airshow: Airbus Military reveals setback in A400M manufacture plans

18 June 2007

The A400M's four turboprop engines are among the largest ever built.

"It's a setback and something we have to fix," Juan Carlos Martinez Saiz, Airbus Military executive vice president for military programmes, told reporters. So far, Europe's A400M military transport plane project has been on course for first flight in early 2008.

According to Saiz, engine testing would not be affected, nor flight tests or deliveries, but he acknowledged the problem had been a "surprise". Structural problems were found in the linkage and a redesigned part was being manufactured.

The A400M is an 18-billion-euro project to provide Europe with a large transport plane that can fly troops and equipment into conflict zones or assist in humanitarian missions.

Executives at Airbus parent firm EADS had said in March that the formal start of the A400M final assembly process would be delayed by up to three months but first deliveries to the French air force in October 2009 would remain on track.

The project spent two decades in planning, and also in sorting out disputes over funding, but executives are hopeful that the plane will carve out a niche in the global market. They foresee a market for at least 400 of such aircraft.