Airbus delivered the first C295 transport turboprop to the Indian Air Force (IAF), out of an order for 56 aircraft that will replace the old Avro 748 twin-engine aircraft.
The aircraft was produced at the Seville plant, in Spain, from where it will depart in the next few days for Delhi, India.
“It was only two years ago that we signed this contract with India, the largest order in the history of the C295,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, Airbus’ Head of Military Air Systems, in a delivery ceremony held in Seville in the presence of IAF Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari.
The IAF reached a deal with Airbus in September 2021 after lengthy discussions that included technology transfer to Indian companies.
For this reason, 40 of the 56 C295s will be assembled in Indian territory by the program’s partner, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), which is building a final assembly line in the city of Vadodara, in the west of the country.
The C295s will begin to be assembled in November 2024, when components produced in the country begin to be sent to the new factory. The forecast is that the first Indian turboprop will be ready in 2026.
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The remaining Spanish C295s will be delivered between May 2024 and August 2025, at a monthly rate of one unit.
The program is expected to be completed in August 2031, according to Airbus. Currently, the C295 has 283 orders from 41 operators and has enjoyed considerable success thanks to the absence of competitors in its category.
