On Wednesday, November 9, 2022, Airbus Defence formally handed over a brand-new Airbus C295W medium-lift aircraft with tail number 215 to the Philippine Air Force (PAF).
At the Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. presided over the event for the turnover and acceptance of the new C295 aircraft and the recently acquired ground-based air defense system (GBADS).
Lieutenant General Vicente Bartolome Bacarro, Chief of Staff of the Philippine Armed Forces, and Lieutenant General Connor Anthony D. Canlas, Commanding General of the Philippine Air Force, were also present at the milestone ceremony.
PAF’s fleet of six C295 aircraft have been vital to the air force’s transport and logistics operations, especially in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) missions to respond in typhoons, natural disasters, and emergencies.
The C295 is capable of making short, unpaved airstrip landings and takeoffs in remote locations while transporting heavy payload over considerable distances.
Airbus Defence and Space Head of Asia-Pacific Johan Pelissier said: “With the seventh aircraft on track to join the fleet in the coming months, we are fully confident that the new additions will complement the rest as an integral part of PAF’s fleet, as the air force utilises the aircraft extensively to boost its air-lift operations. PAF’s wide use of the C295 for various critical missions has fully demonstrated it as a reference user of the tactical airlifter in Southeast Asia.”
With the delivery of the sixth aircraft, the air force now operates a fleet of four Airbus C295M and two Airbus C295W aircraft. The C295 fleet serve as the workhorse of the PAF to complement the ageing fleet of Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft.
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