Airbus Military Delivers First A330 to Cobham Aviation Services

Airbus Military delivered today the first Airbus A330-200 aircraft to Bournemouth, UK-based Cobham Aviation Services for conversion into the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) configuration for the Royal Air Force (RAF). This aircraft is the third of the 14 A330 MRTTs the Royal Air Force has contracted through AirTanker, a joint venture company also in charge of operating the aircraft. The first two aircraft have already been converted at Airbus Military’s facility in Getafe (Madrid), Spain. To mark the arrival of the aircraft on their premises, Cobham hosted a ceremony today at their newly refurbished facility. Representatives from the RAF, UK Ministry of Defence, Airbus Military and AirTanker attended. As part of the conversion programme, all the A330 MRTTs - which will be known in RAF service as "Voyager" - will be fitted with two wing-mounted 905E aerial refuelling pods; additionally seven "Voyagers" will be fitted for 805E centre-line mounted fuselage refuelling units. The first aircraft will commence operations by the end of this year, with the RAF operating the full fleet of 14 aircraft by the second half of the decade to replace its existing TriStar and VC10 aerial refuelling aircraft. Head of Airbus Military Derivatives Antonio Caramazana said: "This is another important milestone in the A330 MRTT Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft programme. It is an enormous pleasure to see the programme moving into the next phase with the conversion of the aircraft now beginning with Cobham in the home country of our biggest customer".