A400M prospects
Silence from all concerned now that the 31/01 deadline has passed: the Ministerial minions seem to be letting Mr. Enders "twist in the wind", though various "leaks" have suggested what seems like a "reasonable" solution.
However, in all the argy-bargy before the end of January, as well as fellow Pruners' comments, the costs mentioned per aircraft only apply to the current production run. Surely the market is not just the "launch customers" (for any aircraft), but the percentage of the potential market it can expect to gain. Mr. Enders has some erudite market analysts and forecasters at his disposal, who must know that wherever there's a C-130, there's a potential A400M sale, sooner or later, and should be talking about that, in true Airbus style.
Boeing people have already said that as the A400M "slips to the right", sales prospects for the C-17 open up.
There has been some talk about "Airbus should not be getting involved in military aircraft", as if the A400M was a death-dealing scatterer of nasty things that go bang, rather than a lifter of goods and people into rough fields - cue Haiti anyone?
There's a pretty good market for the A400M out there. It would be good for all if that were being stressed even more strongly than the cost problems to date.
PS Nice to see the news that MSN4 is in final assembly ... Good on yer, lads & lasses in the team !