Airbus has started building a new A400M maintenance facility in Germany’s Wunstorf Air Base, an offshoot of the company securing an in-service support contract renewal for the German Air Force’s transport aircraft.
The renewal, announced in July, extends for seven and a half years the A400M maintenance work that Airbus secured in December 2014.
The new maintenance facility, which is being constructed adjacent to the Wunstorf Air Transport Squadron 62 base, will generate 300 new jobs. The facility’s projected completion is end-2026, with maintenance service expected to start in mid-2027 after securing approval from the German Armed Forces Airworthiness Office.
According to Airbus, Germany is the biggest A400M customer, with the air force operating 40 out of a total of 53 ordered aircraft. The German Air Force’s entire A400M fleet operates from Wunstorf.
Airbus carries out the A400M maintenance, repair and overhaul services at its MRO base in Manching, near Munich, and at Hannover Airport.
At the new maintenance center’s groundbreaking ceremony, Stephan Weil, minister president of Lower Saxony, praised the Wunstorf site choice as “farsighted and correct.”
“Its proximity to the air base and also to Hannover Airport will ensure smooth maintenance and operational readiness of the important A400M aircraft,” Weil said.
