Luxembourg Armed Forces took delivery of its Airbus A400M military aircraft after a 3 hour-long ferry flight from Seville Airport (SVQ), Spain, where the final assembly line is located. The A400M is the first military plane owned and operated by the Belgium-Luxembourg Binational Air Transport unit.
With the first delivery on October 6, 2020, the binational control unit will take its shape. According to the NATO Allied Air Command report, Belgium and Luxembourg signed an agreement specifying an exact quantity of the A400Ms each country should purchase.
The new generation Airbus A400M will be operated by the 15 Air Transport Wing, based in Melsbroek, Belgium, next to Brussels Airport (BRU). Belgium will be in charge of logistical support and joint training of crews, including six Luxembourgian pilots and six technicians.
“I welcome Luxembourg to the growing A400M user community. With 94 aircraft in service, the A400M is increasingly becoming the air mobility backbone of our customers, both in civil and military environments, as seen in recent COVID-19 crisis missions around the globe,” announced Alberto Gutierrez, the Head of Military Aircraft at Airbus Defence and Space in a press release.
After delivery to Luxembourg, Belgium waits for its turn to receive seven more of the same type of military planes by 2023.
