Airbus military transporter takes off on first test flight (1st Lead)

Dec 11, 2009, 10:24 GMT

Seville, Spain - The Airbus A400M military transport plane took off Friday from Seville on its first test flight, nearly two years later than planned.

Originally scheduled for the beginning of 2008, the flight marks a milestone in the development of the new multi-function airlifter, which is being built to replace aging fleets of C-130 Hercules and C- 160 Transalls in service around the world.

Among the 3,000 spectators on hand to witness the flight were government officials from the seven countries who are financing the A400M. They will use the event to discuss the repercussions of the delays on the project.

The countries are France, Germany, Britain, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey. The A400M that took off Friday was piloted by a Spaniard and a Briton and carried four French flight engineers.

The largest European defence project is more than three years behind schedule, and now seems likely to be costing about 8 billion euros (11.8 billion dollars) more than the 20 billion euros originally earmarked for it.

A decision on new conditions for delivery of the A400M is expected by the end of the year. Some 40,000 jobs depend on the project, 8,000 at Airbus alone.

In an interview published Friday in the financial daily La Tribune, Airbus chief operating officer Fabrice Bregier urged the participating governments to accept a price increase for the aircraft.

'It will not be a price increase on the order of 3 per cent; it will be significant,' Bregier said.

The A400M has been designed to refuel helicopters and fighter-jets in the air and to transport large loads quickly over long distances. The full-fledged version of the A400M is not expected to be delivered to clients before 2015.