A-400M i nødhjelp

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Airbus Suggests Civilian A400M Relief Operations

AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE » MAY 30, 2014

by  CHRIS POCOCK

During the ILA Berlin airshow, Airbus Defence & Space demonstrated the loading of specialist relief vehicles on an A400M airlifter. (Photo: Chris Pocock)

May 29, 2014, 3:10 PM

Airbus has suggested civilian operation of theA400M airlifter for disaster relief flights. At a media briefing during the ILA Berlin airshow last week, Norbert Kolvenbach, vice president for public affairs Germany, noted that the aircraft is already certified by the EASA. He floated the idea of a “supranational” operator, such as the United Nations. “The A400M could be interesting,” said Birgitte Stalder-Olsen, head of logistics for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), at the same briefing.

Airbus noted that only helicopters and versatile aircraft such as the A400M can transport mobile hospitals, food supplies and other relief materials quickly to a crisis zone. Kolvenbach said that after the disastrous typhoon in the Philippines last year, theA400M could have shuttled supplies from Cebu to the small airstrips closer to the affected area than the boats could get them. In another example, aid could have been delivered direct to Dolo Ado airfield in Ethiopia, rather than risk a 10-day road journey from Addis Ababa through terrorist-threatened areas.