Airbus denies delays to A400M military plane

PARIS, July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Airbus denied Wednesday a French newspaper report that development of its military transport plane A400M had been delayed by between 18 months and three years.

“The programme is on schedule,” said a spokesman for Airbus parent company EADS at the Farnborough airshow in Britain.

The French newspaper La Tribune had said delays to the A400M project, which has a budget estimated at EUR 6.0 billion (7.5 billion dollars), were public knowledge and would be announced in due course by Airbus.

Airbus is already reeling from severe delays to production of its superjumbo A380 and development of its mid-size A350 jetliner.

Citing several industry sources, La Tribune paper said the delays were estimated at between 18 and 24 months but could be as much as three years.

Under the original timetable for the A400M project, the first flight should take place at the beginning of 2008 with 192 deliveries scheduled from October 2009, La Tribune said.

The A400M has been ordered as a military transport plane by a number of European governments. Germany is the biggest client with 60 orders, followed by France with 50 orders, Spain with 27 and Britain with 25, La Tribune said, citing figures from EADS.

Subject: French News