Le Bourget, France: The crash of an Airbus A400M military transport plane last month hasn't affected export orders, the firm's chief executive said today, adding Airbus hoped to land new customers soon.
An A400M plane crashed during a test flight on May 9 near Seville in Spain, killing four of the six people on board and seriously injuring the two others.
Initial analysis of the black boxes showed that three of the four engines had failed.
Airbus's chief executive Tom Enders told France's Europe 1 radio that the crash was a tragic event but that so far it had not had an impact on orders as countries that use the plane were convinced of its merits.
One of the advantages that the new turboprop offers is that it can take off on shorter runways and rough terrain with up to 37 tonnes of cargo and troops.
Enders said there was lots of interest in the aircraft, including in several countries in the Middle East and Asia, and that he hoped to sign more contracts in the near future.
The A400M has been flying throughout the week at the Paris Air Show, which runs until Sunday.
Even before the crash last month, the plane has been plagued by years of production delays and costly overruns.
European nations who pushed for the development of the aircraft had even considered cancelling the programme at one point.
The first A400M was delivered in 2013, four years late and 6.2 billion euros ($7.0 billion) over budget.
A total of 174 have been ordered since, but the company has been having difficulty meeting its delivery schedule, prompting Airbus to shake up its management of the programme in January.
It acknowledged at the time that with respect to "the integration of military capabilities and the industrial ramp-up in particular, we have not been performing at the level which had been expected of us."
An A400M plane crashed during a test flight on May 9 near Seville in Spain, killing four of the six people on board and seriously injuring the two others.
Initial analysis of the black boxes showed that three of the four engines had failed.
One of the advantages that the new turboprop offers is that it can take off on shorter runways and rough terrain with up to 37 tonnes of cargo and troops.
Advertisement
The A400M has been flying throughout the week at the Paris Air Show, which runs until Sunday.
Advertisement
European nations who pushed for the development of the aircraft had even considered cancelling the programme at one point.
Advertisement
A total of 174 have been ordered since, but the company has been having difficulty meeting its delivery schedule, prompting Airbus to shake up its management of the programme in January.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
"Welcome Home": Air Indias 1st Narrow-Body Jet In New Livery Lands In Delhi Saudia Group Places Order For 105 Airbus Planes In "Landmark" Deal Video: Airline Worker Falls Off Aircraft After Step Ladder Moved Without Signal Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests 1,100 Flights Cancelled In US As Microsoft Outage Disrupts Operations Elon Musk Congratulates PM Modi On Becoming Most Followed Leader On X With Shadow Cabinet, Naveen Patnaik Makes His Intentions Clear Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.