Page 12 - SAHA EXPO 2024 - DAY 3

INTERVIEW
“Airbus ready to support the

Turkish Air Force’s modernization needs”

Airbus and Türkiye have a 40-year history With the ongoing A400M Retrofit project,
of cooperation in civil and military aviation, 2. AMFD demonstrated their capabilities in
with the latter having also been an integral implementing complex and extensive MRO
partner of the Airbus supply chain for over work packages of a retrofit event up to six
two decades. José Luis de Miguel CORTÉS, months including ground and flight tests
Vice President, Head of Europe at Airbus in compliance with Airbus standards. One
Defence and Space, speaks to Daily News of these events even included a combined
on the airframer’s presence in Türkiye. C Light check as well. In addition, as ex-
plained above, they have recently started
Please provide an update on the A400M in to implement some WPs on TurAF A400M
service with the Turkish Air Force? as a subcontractor of Airbus.

Since the first aircraft was delivered in What are the other Airbus products that
2014, the Turkish Air Force has been con- are currently in service or being proposed
tributing to the transportation operation for use with the Turkish Military?
with 10 A400M aircraft in its inventory.
To date, they have been flying with a very With 58 aircraft in operation Türkiye has
high availability rate thanks to good ser- the world’s largest CN235 fleet. The six
vice support and the setup of their current MSAs of the Naval Forces, the three MPAs
maintenance capabilities. A400Ms have of the Coast Guard Command and the 49
great benefits for humanitarian aid pur- CN235 aircraft of the Air Force in various
poses as well as operational support. For configurations have been operating suc-
this reason, not only the Turkish Air Force José Luis de Miguel CORTÉS, cessfully for many years. Airbus will sup-
but also the entire Türkiye is realising the Vice President, Head of Europe port the Air Force’s modernization needs
benefits of the A400M fleet every day. at Airbus Defence and Space. to ensure that these aircraft continue to fly
successfully in the coming years.
Please provide an update on Airbus’ busi- A400M Working Parties. In this context, The current KC 135 tanker fleet of TurAF
ness and industrial relationship with the 2. they already implemented two working is ageing ( >60 years), and we believe
AMFD in Kayseri? parties like engine replacements on TurAF
A400Ms. Airbus’ A330 MRTT could be the ideal
2. AMFD has been awarded the approved Thanks to the capabilities developed replacement. To this end, we work closely
with the relevant parties.
supplier status in 2019 by Airbus to imple- during the A400M cooperation as above
ment A400M Retrofit on TurAF aircraft. and the close relationship with Airbus, the Turkey is also the world’s largest Cougar
Since then, 2. AMFD has successfully 2nd AMFD can also be evaluated within the operator with a total of 46 Cougar helicop-
completed six retrofit campaigns on TurAF scope of the industrialization and service ters, 26 of which are in the Land Forces’
ACs including one combined C check. In support package of other Airbus platforms inventory and 20 of which are used in the
addition, following the signature of an for the ongoing Turkish Air Force needs. SAR configuration by the Air Force. Airbus
MoU between ASFAT and Airbus to con- is ready to support future modernization
tinue working on A400M Retrofit/MRO What are the key capabilities at these MRO needs for this platform.
business, 2. AMFD has been awarded the facilities and what is the status on the Beyond air platforms, Airbus Space
MRO supplier in the region to implement Global Support Services (GSS) 3 contract? Systems has delivered Turksat 5A and

12 OCTOBER-24-2024 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/DAILY NEWS