Airbus A400: Can they sell it to airlines?
Fresh off their A380F disaster, Airbus is now quietly talking to airlines about taking on a civil version of their A400 military cargo plane.
The maximum takeoff weight for the A400M operating to civil rules is around 293,200 pounds. If sold as is, said Jennings, the A400M would have a maximum payload of 30 tonnes, or 66,000 pounds. Removing military hardware would increase the useful payload to 33 tonnes, or more than 72,750 pounds.
The range of a civil freighter carrying a 60,000-pound payload is 2,000 nautical miles. The range would increase to 3,059 nautical miles with a 40,000-pound payload, allowing it to operate to almost any point in the continental U.S. as well as much of Europe.
Air Cargo World and analysts are skeptical:
Despite its capabilities, the A400M may carry sticker shock for freight operators. The base price for a military version is $136 million, but Airbus claims the civil variant will cost considerably less, although the company offered no official price.
But the real question is whether there is a market gap waiting that the civil A400M would fill.
“The airplane doesn’t fill our needs, although it seems very capable and will find some niche in the civil market,” said Bill Simpson, long-range planning manager for UPS Airlines.
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But analysts remain skeptical the A400M will succeed commercially where other military aircraft converted to civil use have failed.“I don’t think anyone can give one example of where a new military designated aircraft had also been successful as a commercial aircraft,” said Robert Dahl, project director for Air Cargo Management Group. He added, however: “The demand for outsized goods is growing and the A400M could help fill that role.”
Coupling a high value asset with low utilization, however, does not necessarily make for a profitable venture. “I can’t imagine what it would be used for in order to pay for the higher operating and acquisition costs,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis for the Teal Group.
And, like the A380F, there are rumors of production delays:
The A400M program has generated some controversy over delays, which plagued the A380 program.
Reuters quoted an official of the Zodiac company, a supplier to the A400M program, of a three-month delay to the aircraft’s production schedule, with a further 12 months delay very possible.
Airbus said the decision to delay the final assembly of the A400M by three months was made in March, as a “risk mitigation measure” following an internal review of the program. But the planemaker categorically denied there would be any more delays in the program.
Color me equally skeptical. Airbus would be better off fixing their manufacturing and supply chain processes to avoid further delays to existing projects then trying to market a military freighter to a civilian market that doesn’t seem eager to buy.
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