Airbus delivers masks to Spain to aid COVID-19 crisis efforts

An Airbus A400M has delivered critically needed masks to Spain as part of an effort to combat the COVID-19 virus.

The aircraft – registration EC-400 (c/n 056) – was operated by an Airbus flight crew, who delivered the critically needed supplies for the Spanish health system on March 23. The A400M departed Toulouse at 1807hrs (CET/local time), arriving at Getafe air base in Madrid at 1905hrs, where it was unloaded on behalf of the Spanish defence ministry.

The cargo is part of a delivery of roughly two million masks which were transported to Toulouse over the weekend from Tianjin, China, by one of Airbus’ A330-800neo demonstrator aircraft.

In a press release, Airbus said: “This air-bridge will enable the delivery of a significant supply of masks to the Spanish public health network in support of current COVID-19 crisis efforts. This comes on top of donations by Airbus in recent days to provide thousands of masks to hospitals and public services around Europe. The company will continue to support with additional flights planned to take place in the coming days in co-ordination with national authorities.”

EC-400 (c/n 056) is set to end its career as a demonstrator aircraft soon. It will subsequently be delivered to the Royal Air Force (RAF) and re-registered as ZM421. It will be operated from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, as part of the air arm’s A400M Atlas C1 fleet.