JEDDAH: The first Airbus Military A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport for the Royal Saudi Air Force completed its four-hour maiden flight. The aircraft was converted by Iberia as part the partnership between Iberia Maintenance and Airbus Military, Iberia said in a statement. After a final flight test Wednesday, the aircraft was delivered to Airbus Military. It will later be delivered to Saudi Arabia, which has six A330 MRTTs on order. The conversion marked the first time such a conversion was performed in Spain, where Iberia maintenance and engineering teams modified the aircraft in 16 months. "It is a great satisfaction for us to have successfully completed a project which is certainly the biggest challenge we have ever faced in the transformation of aircraft," said Jose Luis Ruiz de Castaneda, executive vice president of Iberia's Maintenance and Engineering division. The Saudi aircraft converted by Iberia was flown in November 2009 from the Airbus plant in Toulouse, France, to Iberia's Madrid maintenance installations, where it was equipped to carry fuel, and deliver it in mid-air to other aircraft. The A330 MRTT has a maximum fuel capacity of 111 000 kg of fuel and with standard fuel capacity the aircraft can carry an additional 45 000 kg of cargo. Refuelling other aircraft can be undertaken with Cobham underwing refuelling pods or a Cobham fuselage mounted refuelling boom. In addition, the MRTT can take on fuel from other aircraft using a universal aerial refuelling receptacle. The second Saudi MRTT is already being converted while a third aircraft will begin the process in the middle of this year. Iberia first disassembled the aircraft to allow structural modifications to be made. This was followed by functional tests both on the ground and in the air. The transformation of the A330 into an MRTT was completed with the configuration of the interior. Iberia's engineers and technicians spent 140,000 man-hours on the conversion of the A330, during which they modified 5,500 system components, making structural changes to 2,000 parts. An additional 58.5 kilometers of wiring was installed, including 1,000 meters each of coaxial cable and fiber optic cable.
