Airbus Sees Potential Top-Up Orders, Middle East Buyers Sustaining A400M Production

FARNBOROUGH—Airbus has its eye on top-up orders from the UK and Turkey, among others, as well as new customers in the Middle East as avenues extend the production line of the A400M military airlifter.

The experience that user air forces have had with the airlifter in operations such as the evacuations in Afghanistan and Sudan, as well as earthquake relief in Turkey, have helped cement user interest in the aircraft, Airbus Defence and Space CEO Michael Schoellhorn says.

But Airbus also faces a slowly narrowing window to secure additional orders. The European aerospace giant has delivered 127 of 178 ordered airlifters to date. Deliveries currently are slated to run until 2029, though long-lead production narrows the period—by which time the company needs to secure further deals to keep the line humming.

The UK is looking at another six aircraft, and Turkey is showing interest in potentially buying more, Schoellhorn says. Turkey has taken delivery of the 10 A400Ms it has ordered, and the UK has all of its 22 platforms, although London initially wanted to buy more and scaled back its procurement when costs on the program skyrocketed. The Middle East interest would be a new market for the aircraft.

“I’m optimistic we’ll secure enough orders to keep running,” Schoellhorn says.

The A400M has for years been a drag on earnings for Airbus’s defense operations, but the picture is changing, Schoellhorn adds. The company has been working to take costs out of the program to turn the A400M on a trajectory to be cash-flow positive.

The company also is still working on finalizing delivery of the promised full-capability configuration. While many of the elements of the so-called SOC3 standard—for Standard Operating Capability—are in place, a few still need to be fully validated, such as helicopter air-to-air refueling. Schoellhorn said the work on SOC3 should take about two more years.