The Philippine Air Force received the first of three Spanish Airbus C295 medium transport plane, which is part of the country’s modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the administration of Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III. The hand over ceremonies took place in Seville, Spain.
According to the press release from Airbus dated March 18, 2015, the plane is now being ferried to the Philippines after the hand over ceremonies took place in Seville, Spain, where the final assembly line of Airbus was located.
The newly-acquired Airbus C295 will play a key role in the modernization of the Philippine Air Force transport fleet and will undertake a wide variety of military and humanitarian missions.
The plane that cost a total of P5.29 billion is on its way to the Philippines as confirmed by Air Force spokesperson Lietenant Colonel Enrico Canaya during an interview with the press.
The newest hardware addition to the Philippine Air Force will still undergo an acceptance process. Airbus C295 medium transport plane is a twin-turboprop aircraft capable of carrying up to nine tons or 71 soldiers, using short unprepared airstrips.
The medium-lift plane is equivalent to the Fokker plane which will be used in transporting cargos, and used in disaster response. Right now the Philippine Air Force is using three C-130 cargo planes and three Fokker planes on their fleet of cargo aircraft.
