Less than a month after the first Airbus Military A400M aircraft made its maiden flight on December 11, the European company admitted on Tuesday that it might scrap the military transport aircraft project.

Airbus spokesperson Stefan Schaffrath said that cancelling the programme was “a scenario” being considered, if the A400M “continues to contribute to a loss”. He called on the countries involved in the airlifter programme to come to an agreement on whether or not to continue funding the aircraft by the end of this month.

The A400M could cost 25% more to build than originally expected and Airbus would like the terms of the contract between Airbus Military and European defence acquisition agency Occar changed so as to prevent the aircraft becoming a major lossmaker for the group.

Schaffrath stated that the company was preparing lists of engineers who could be transferred from the A400M programme to Airbus civil aircraft projects, should the military aeroplane be cancelled.

The aerospace company subsequently issued a follow-up statement on the matter, saying that “Airbus’ position is that the A400M partner/customer country governments should take their share of the programme burden and this needs to be agreed as soon as possible. We hope to conclude negotiations in this regard in a constructive and positive way before the end of the month.”

The A400M programme now involves eight countries; they are (with the numbers of A400Ms they have ordered) Germany (60), France (50), Spain (27), Britain (25), Turkey (10), Belgium (7), Malaysia (4), and Luxembourg (1).

South Africa was also one of the partner countries until, in November, it cancelled its order for eight of the aircraft “due to extensive cost escalation and the supplier’s failure to deliver the aircraft within the stipulated timeframes,” in the words of the South African government’s explanation of the decision.

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