Seville, Spain, 5 September 2016 — The first Airbus A400M airlifter ordered by the Spanish Air Force has made its maiden flight, marking a key milestone towards its delivery. The aircraft, known as MSN044, took off from Seville-San Pablo airport where the A400M Final Assembly Line is located at 15:25 local time (GMT+1) on 5 September and landed back on site 3 hours and 45 minutes later.
Test-Pilot Nacho Lombo (a former Spanish Air Force fighter pilot), who captained the flight, said after landing: “As always, the aircraft was a pleasure to fly. I am confident that its unique combination of strategic and tactical capabilities will have a transformational effect on the Spanish Air Force’s air mobility operations as it has done in other countries already.” The aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in the coming weeks.
As the summer of 2016 is coming to a close, no less than six air arms are now flying the A400M: France, UK, Turkey, Germany, Malaysia and Spain. The operational career of this aircraft is still young and it makes sense to believe that the next decade will see the A400M achieving maturity on a market where it will be the dominant propeller-driven tactical and strategic airlifter.
