EADS sees first flight for military plane in Sept

PARIS: The Airbus A400M military transport plane, facing delays of six to 12 months, should have its first flight in September, the executive head of Airbus parent group EADS said on Wednesday.

"Our teams are mobilised to have it fly in September," Louis Gallois, chief executive at the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, told journalists.

The first fully built A400M is scheduled to leave a factory in Seville, Spain on June 26.

The A400M programme is currently six to 12 months behind schedule, with the French air force scheduled to take a first delivery of the aircraft in the first half of 2010.