The French Air Force also has deployed A400Ms from its fleet for COVID-19-related medical evacuations, with the country's first-delivered aircraft now transporting patients from congested hospitals within France to areas with greater critical healthcare capacity - complementing the military service's A330 MRTT, also being used in this role.

The A400M was converted for medical evacuations using a configuration rapidly developed by the French military aeronautical research and test centre (Centre d'Expertise Aérienne Militaire) - applying certain elements of the CM30 medical evacuation module used in the A330 MRTT - and completed in record time.

'The high speed of execution was possible thanks to a study we had carried out in 2018, along with the excellent work and strong commitment from Airbus teams,' said the French Air Force officer in charge. 'The trust and proximity we've built with Airbus over the years really helped us solve technical questions very quickly.'

Soon after its conversion, the A400M transported four COVID-19 patients from Ile-de-France to Clermont-Ferrand early this month - and went on to perform three more medevac missions over the following two-day period.

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Airbus SE published this content on 21 May 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 May 2020 10:13:05 UTC