Airbus hoping to resume A400M aircraft deliveries next week
Airbus is hoping to resume deliveries of its A400M military transport carrier to customers next week as British and Turkish air forces lift flying restrictions that have kept the aircraft grounded since a fatal crash in Spain last month.
“If everything goes well we will deliver the next aircraft to France next week and another shortly to the UK,” said Bernhard Gerwert, head of Airbus’s defence and space division, in an interview at the Paris air show on Tuesday.
The first crash of an A400M, which killed four crew members and left two others badly injured, has cast a shadow over Europe’s largest single defence contract.
Airbus is waiting for Spanish authorities to grant permission to the aerospace group to resume deliveries of A400M aircraft to government customers. Regulators have said this authority could come within days.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Royal Air Force lifted a suspension on flights of its A400M aircraft following certain checks and extra procedures, while the Turkish defence ministry has notified Airbus that it would do the same from tomorrow.
“Having undertaken and completed a series of thorough checks on the UK’s A400M aircraft and how it is operated, the RAF is now satisfied that the additional processes and procedures introduced means it is now safe for the RAF to resume flying,” the UK defence ministry said.
Mr Gerwert said Airbus was still waiting for the final results of the investigation into the causes of the A400M crash.
Speculation has focused on the aircraft’s software which controls the engines, and was the subject of problems in 2009.
Airbus issued a patch to the software system last month to operators of the aircraft that has resolved the latest problems, according to government officials.
Some Airbus executives have in recent weeks suggested problems were apparent at the company’s Spanish factory that assembles the A400M.
This site was the focus of a management reshuffle earlier this year, due to protracted delays in production which have angered the aircraft’s eight launch customers.
Following these latest delays, Airbus is renegotiating the delivery timetable with customers, and Mr Gewert said it was possible that dates would be stretched out as a result.
The discussions are expected to continue for several months, he added. Airbus is likely to have to pay penalties for the delays and rescheduling.
The A400M programme has already been renegotiated once, in 2010, when the partner states agreed a €3.5bn bailout.