On February 14 Embraer Defense & Security officially started the structural assembly of the first C-390 Millennium for the Austrian Armed Forces began. This milestone was celebrated at a ceremony at the Embraer plant in Gavião Peixoto, attended by high-ranking representatives of the Austrian government and the Ministry of Defense.
“We are very excited to start production of the first aircraft for Austria and look forward to delivering it to the Austrian Air Force soon,” said Bosco da Costa Junior, President and CEO of Embraer. “The C-390M sets new standards as a medium airlifter – a true multi-role aircraft. It offers an unbeatable combination of the latest technology, reliability and low operating costs with unsurpassed performance.”
As Embraer emphasizes, the C-390 has proven its performance, reliability and efficiency since entering service with the Brazilian Air Force in 2019, the Portuguese Air Force in 2023 and most recently with the Hungarian Air Force in 2024. The aircraft fleet currently in operation has now completed more than 16,300 flight hours – with an operational capability of 93% and a mission completion rate of over 99%, which is considered exceptional productivity in this category.
In addition to Brazil (19 machines), Portugal (5) and Hungary (2), the Netherlands has also announced its type decision for 2022. In 2023, Austria also decided to purchase to purchase a total of nine aircraft together with the Netherlandsthe Czech Republic (2) and the Republic of Korea (3) for the C-390.
Sweden (4), Slovakia (3) and an officially unnamed customer followed in 2024. The latter is reportedly Uzbekistan (2).
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