The first of two Airbus A400M transport aircraft ordered by the Republic of Kazakhstan made its maiden flight on 10 June 2024, Airbus announced later the same day.
The flight was a key milestone ahead of the aircraft’s delivery in the second half of 2024.
The A400M, production number MSN139, took off from Airbus Defence and Space’s facilities in Seville, Spain, at 14:42 local time (GMT+2). After a flight lasting five hours over the regions of Huelva and Seville in southwest Spain, during which time the aircraft’s engines and systems were tested, Kazakhstan’s first A400M landed at 19:23 (GMT+2).
Prior to this first flight, as part of the aircraft’s certification process, it conducted its first engine run and taxi in April 2024.
Airbus announced on 1 September 2021 that Kazakhstan had placed an order for two A400Ms, becoming the ninth country to order the type alongside Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Malaysia and Luxembourg. In November 2021 Indonesia also ordered two A400Ms in a multirole tanker and transport configuration.
“More than 120 A400Ms have been manufactured, accumulating 190,000 flight hours, including for the most demanding military and humanitarian missions,” Airbus noted in a press release.
