On 07 October 2020, EATC commanded the delivery transfer flight of the first Luxembourg A400M aircraft with destination Luxembourg airport.
What a première for Luxembourg, the binational Belgium-Luxembourg A400M unit (BNU A400M) and EATC! The A400M with the registration CT-01 is the unique Luxembourg owned military transport aircraft*. It is also the first asset to integrate into the BNU A400M stationed at Melsbroek military airbase (Belgium), thus the foundation stone of the cooperation between the BNU and EATC.
The BNU showcases the outstanding partnership between Belgium and Luxembourg. The BNU is a truly integrated multinational air transport unit where both nations share aircraft, logistics, maintenance and mixed air crews. All eight A400M assets of the unit will be under EATC’s operational control.
Read more about the Belgium-Luxembourg A400M unit!
The Luxembourg owned A400M will be operated along with seven Belgian aircraft by the Belgian-Luxembourg binational unit at Melsbroek airbase, near Brussels. The delivery is planned to be completed in 2023.
The eight aircraft will be operated in a binational pool under EATC’s command and control. The BNU is composed of mixed air crews, with pilots and loadmasters coming from Belgium and Luxembourg. Since 2011, Luxembourg crews have already operated the Belgium C-130 Hercules legacy fleet, along with their Belgian counterparts.
Link: https://ac.nato.int/archive/2020/BEL_LUX_BNU_A400M
* The Luxembourg contribution to EATC includes civilian contracted aeromedical evacuation and cargo assets plus the Luxembourg share in the multinational MRTT unit operating A330 MRTTs.