For the Austrian Hercules successor The Airbus A400M transporter with a payload of 35 tons was too large for the Austrian Hercules successor – but there is certainly demand for it in other countries. The plant in San Pablo near Seville, Spain, which is responsible for large military aircraft within the Group, presented the first of two A400Ms for Kazakhstan on Monday.
Fresh from the paint shop, production number MSN139 is a strikingly shiny dark gray with the symbols of the armed forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan: a red and yellow star and a golden sun with 32 rays above a soaring golden steppe eagle.
The order was placed in 2021 and the first aircraft is now due to be delivered by the end of the year. After Malaysia, Almaty is the second export customer outside the European consortium and the ninth customer for the wide-body turboprop, which only “came of age” in 2009 – after a long delay.
According to manufacturer Airbus Defense & Space 180 have been ordered so far and more than 100 have already been manufactured. The delivered aircraft have already completed around 180,000 flight hours – including in crisis areas such as the clearance of the airport in the Afghan capital Kabul.
The full contract volume with Kazakhstan was not disclosed, but the list price (excluding the individual country package) is likely to be around 130 million euros. Incidentally, eight smaller C295N transport aircraft were also delivered to Kazakhstan from the plant near Seville.
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