Assembly of Austrian Air Force C-390 begins
February 23, 2025
Embraer has officially begun the structural assembly of the first C-390 Millennium for Austria, the 23rd . This major step took place during an official ceremony held at the Gavião Peixoto production facility in the presence of a delegation of representatives from the Austrian government.
Bosco da Costa Junior, the President and CEO of Embraer Defense and Security said that: “We’re thrilled to start production of first aircraft for Austria and we look forward to delivering the first aircraft to the Austrian Air Force soon. The C-390 is setting new standards as a medium airlift, truly multi-mission aircraft. It offers an unbeatable combination of the latest technology, reliability, and low operational costs, with unmatched performance”, said
Austria’s four transport-configured C-390s will replace the three ex-RAF C-130Ks that now equip the Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte (Austrian Air Force) transport fleet, serving with the Luftunterstützungsgeschwader at Hörsching. Aircraft deliveries are expected to begin in 2026.
A photograph from the ceremony revealed that the aircraft has the construction number 39000023, indicating that it is the 23rd aircraft built (including the first three pre-series aircraft used by Embraer.
Since entering service with the Brazilian Air Force in 2019, the Portuguese Air Force in 2023 and, most recently the Hungarian Air Force in 2024, the C-390 has proven its capability, reliability and performance, operating in the cargo and troop transport, medical evacuation, firefighting, air-to-air refueling, and disaster relief roles.
The current fleet of aircraft has already accumulated more than 16,300 flying hours, and has demonstrated a mission capability rate of 93% and mission completion rates above 99%.
Brazil has 28 ordered aircraft, though this was subsequently reduced to 22, of which seven are in service. Portugal has received two of the five aircraft ordered, while Hungary has received the first of the two aircraft it has on order.
The aircraft has also been selected by seven further customers. These include the Netherlands (5 ordered in 2022), Austria (4), the Czech Republic (2) and the Republic of Korea (3) all in 2023, and by Sweden (an unknown number), Slovakia (3), and an undisclosed customer (2, probably for South Africa) in 2024.
