• One of the Embraer KC-390 prototypes at the Paris Air Show 2017. Credit: ADM Nigel Pittaway
    One of the Embraer KC-390 prototypes at the Paris Air Show 2017. Credit: ADM Nigel Pittaway
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KC-390 to tour NZ

22 June 2017
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Nigel Pittaway | Le Bourget

Embraer has revealed that one of its KC-390 airlifters will tour the Asia-Pacific region following its appearance at the 52nd Paris International Air Show this month.

The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer declined to discuss details of the regional sales campaign, but confirmed that the next generation airlifter would be demonstrated in New Zealand, most likely in the first week of July. Given the likely routing between Paris and NZ, the aircraft is also likely to transit through Australia on the journey, marking the first time the aircraft will have visited the region.

 

The aircraft is also likely to transit through Australia on the journey

 

The KC-390 took part in the daily flying program at Le Bourget, the first time the aircraft has been publicly demonstrated in flight. The show concludes on June 25, after which the aircraft will return to Brazil via a select number of destinations in the region. The aircraft is the second of two prototypes currently flying and Embraer is now undertaking a global sales campaign to attract orders.

Thirty KC-390s are on order for the Brazilian Air Force (28 new-build aircraft and the two refurbished prototypes), with Initial Operational Capability (IOC) due in the second half of this year. Deliveries are due to begin in 2018 and Paulo Gastão Silva, Embraer’s vice president KC-390 program said that the Portuguese government has approved negotiations for the purchase of five aircraft (with an options on a sixth), making it the first likely export customer.

Gastão said that export customers can begin taking aircraft as early as 2019, following an increase in production from the planned 1.5 to two aircraft per month, if further orders eventuate soon.

NZ’s Future Air Mobility Capability (FAMC) seeks to acquire a fixed wing transport capability to the ageing C-130H Hercules and Boeing 757 fleets, covering both strategic and tactical airlift capability.

 Delivery of the first aircraft is required by February 2020 and for Initial Operational Capability (IOC) to follow a year later. Final Operational Capability (FOC) for the new aircraft is required to occur no later than February 2024. The first replacement aircraft for the 757 fleet is required to arrive by 1 February 2025, in order to allow IOC to be declared by 1 February 2026.

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