Airbus has previously said the A400M would make its maiden flight “by the turn of the year,” but the company is “quietly confident it will be this side of the turn of the year,” Scoffham told
Nov.16 at a press conference.

The upbeat prediction stemmed from individual running of the four new TP400-D6 turboprop engines on the A400M wing.

“All four engines ran last night,” Scoffham said, showing pictures of the engines on the A400M wing.

The next step will be to run all four engines together, practise a slow taxi and fast taxi, before attempting a first flight.

The aircraft has been handed over to the flight test center, where analysis of the first engine run on the wing will be analyzed.

A first flight will depend on factors such as weather conditions and test equipment, as the first flight will be part of the test flight program.