16:23 GMT, June 26, 2008 In a ceremony presided over by His Majesty Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, Airbus Military has today rolled out the first complete A400M military transport aircraft from the Final Assembly Line facility in Seville, Spain. The roll out followed 6-12 months later then predicted, a delay which analysts said could trigger a charge of 1 billion Euro ($697 million). The military transport aircraft was scheduled to enter service in 2009.

The first flight of the A400M, previously scheduled for July 2008 timeframe is now to be terminated.

Launched in May 2003, the A400M started as a 20 billion Euro project to build 180 transport planes for seven NATO countries Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. South Africa joined the programme in April 2005 with an order for eight aircraft and Malaysia followed in December 2005 by ordering four aircraft, bringing the total order book to date to 192.

The initial contract was signed with a single interface between Airbus Military and OCCAR, (Organisation Conjointe de Coordination en matière d’Armement), the contractual body representing all seven European customer nations).

With a payload of up to 37 tonnes over ranges of up to 4700 nm, the A400M is designed as a new military transport aircraft which can also act as an in-flight refueller for both fast jets and helicopters.

It is considered primarily to be a replacement for Lockheed Martin Corp.'s aging C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft which is also used by many NATO nations as well as Malaysia and South Africa.

A European consortium, including Rolls Royce Plc of Britain, Safran SA of France, MTU Aero Engines of Germany and Industria de Turbo Propulsores SA of Spain, is producing the engine.

During the roll out Louis Gallois, CEO of EADS confirmed that the A400M will open further potential in international markets.

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