Delivery schedule of the A400M military transport aircraft could be delayed by one more year

German magazine WirtschaftsWoche reports that the delivery schedule of the A400M military transport aircraft could be delayed by one more year. These delays are related to poor cooperation between Airbus’s operations in France and Spain, which raises new difficulties on top of software issues, adds the magazine, saying the French refused to help the Spanish solve these issues. In about two weeks, the first completed model of the new A400M is to leave the manufacturing plant in Seville, Spain, under the eyes of Thomas Enders and King Juan Carlos. In this context, Airbus reportedly declined to participate in a US military competition for 68 military transport aircraft -worth up to € 6Bn- because it would not have been able to deliver the planes on schedule. Ralph Crosby, CEO of EADS North America, is quoted by WirstschaftsWoche as saying: “We do not make offers that we cannot stick to”. Dow Jones Newswires (16/06), WirtschaftsWoche, Die Welt, Berliner Zeitung