First Flight For A400M Next Week, Weather Permitting | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Tue, Dec 01, 2009

First Flight For A400M Next Week, Weather Permitting

Long-Delayed Airlifter To Won't Enter Service Until 2013

Airbus' long-delayed A400M military transport will make its first test flight during the week beginning December 7, "weather permitting", the European aircraft manufacturer said Friday.

The A400M was to replace aging military cargo carriers in several European air forces, but its development has been dogged by a series of serious technical problems and its in service date has been pushed from 2009 to 2013.

Defense News reports that some governments have begun to tire of waiting for Airbus to resolve the issues, and French and German officials have given the firm until the end of the year to prove that the project remains viable. "Ground tests of the first A400M are progressing satisfactorily at our facility. This allows us to anticipate a first flight in the week 50, weather permitting," said Airbus military chairman and managing director Domingo Urena.

When the $28 billion A400M project began, it was hoped that a first test flight would be held in 2008 and that air forces would have had the airframe in service by the end of this year. There is now little hope that the first production models will be delivered by 2012, and none is expected on the world's battlefield airstrips until 2013. The delays have cost millions and forced Airbus to renegotiate contracts with several customers. South Africa has dropped its order entirely and Britain has mulled switching is business to U.S. manufacturers.

Seven European countries - Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey - have ordered 180 planes between them, in most cases to replace aging Transall and C-130 Hercules transports.

FMI: www.airbus.com

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Aviat A1

Airplane Bounced About 3 Ft Then Touched Back Down And Then, With No Brakes Applied, The Airplane Began Veering To The Left Analysis: The pilot entered the airport traffic pattern >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.08.25)

Aero Linx: British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) The primary focus within all aviation activity is SAFETY. In all aspects of our sport SAFETY must come first, whether it b>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Fly Corvair’s Reliable Engine Alternative

From SnF25 (YouTube Edition): William Wynne Builds Practical Aircraft Engines on the Corvair Platform Seeking an affordable alternative to the traditional aircraft engine options, >[...]

ANN FAQ: Contributing To Aero-TV

How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: CiES Fuel-Quantity and e-Throttle Systems Praised

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Bridge of CiES CiES Inc. is a Bend, Oregon-based designer and manufacturer of modular embedded aircraft systems and sensors. The company’s fuel-l>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC