Airbus military transporter cleared for final testing

Airbus says the long-delayed prototype of its first military transport plane has been moved from the factory for final testing ahead of its maiden flight next month.

Airbus said on Friday that the testing will involve running up trouble-plagued turboprop engines to full power, low-and high-speed taxiing, as well as aborted takeoffs designed to check all aircraft systems before the first flight.

The four-engine A400M was launched in 2003 with an order for 180 planes from seven governments and is Europe’s most ambitious military transport program ever. But the program has been hit by cost overruns and teething problems with the new Europrop International TP400 engines, and the plane’s maiden flight has been repeatedly postponed.