Questions
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Airbus has discussed with them the circumstances that would induce it to decline to proceed with the production of the A400M. [HL1099]
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many months behind schedule the A400M aircraft was on 31 December 2009. [HL1103]
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much further delay in the production of the A400M aircraft they will accept before cancelling their order. [HL1104]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was their share on 31 December 2009 in the cost overruns on the A400M aircraft; and by how much that figure is increasing each month. [HL1105]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the maximum cost overrun they will accept before cancelling their order for the A400M aircraft. [HL1106]
The first flight of the A400M prototype which took place in December 2009 was 23 months late. Airbus Military has previously announced that customer deliveries would commence approximately three years after the achievement of first flight, meaning that the first delivery of a UK aircraft would occur approximately four years after first flight. Once full aircraft production activities have commenced, this amount of delay is expected to apply to the remainder of customer deliveries.
The matter of cost overrun is subject to ongoing negotiation between Partner Nations and Airbus Military, and is commercially sensitive.
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many countries, other than those engaged in its production, have placed orders for or asked for options on the A400M. [HL1100]
These are matters for EADS and any customers or potential customers for the aircraft.
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tonnes overweight they anticipate that the A400M will be. [HL1101]
To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the effect on the originally planned air lift capability of the A400M aircraft of the increase in the weight of the plane. [HL1102]
The empty weight of the delivered aircraft remains to be determined and is not a contractual requirement.
The important figure is that the A400M aircraft has been specified to carry a payload of 32 tonnes, and it is currently forecast to meet this requirement.