A400M engine woes sees aircraft remaining static at show

The move repeats a decision at last year's Paris Airshow, but is not expected to disrupt plans to deliver it to its first customer, France, around the end of the year.

The A400M cost 20 billion euros to develop and is designed to add airlift capacity for seven European NATO nations -- Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey.

Airbus confirmed the A400M would not be flying and issued a statement saying: “Based on the current flight test schedule and planning for the coming days, Airbus Military has decided to bring the first production representative example of the A400M - the MSN6 - to the Farnborough Air show. The aircraft will be on static display, allowing a maximum number of current and potential customers and other visitors to view the production standard cargo-hold and appreciate the real dimensions of the aircraft without flight-test instrumentation for the first time.

“The decision to have the aircraft on static display only is based on engine issues that happened last week which need further investigation.  “A400M flight testing continues at an aggressive pace with successful achievements in the field of military capabilities. It is beginning to show the level of technical maturity required at first delivery, and we are pleased with the overall performance of the aircraft. Despite some engine maturity challenges, we are confident that we will find the right solutions and provide our customers with an aircraft that fully meets or exceeds the expectations.”