Airbus exec sees new delay in maiden A400M flight

TOULOUSE, France, Oct 15 (Reuters) - A top official at European planemaker Airbus (EAD.PA) predicted on Monday that the maiden flight of the A400M military airlifter would be delayed until July 2008.

The first flight of the aircraft being built for seven European NATO nations was originally scheduled for January 2008.

Tom Williams, executive vice-president for the company's "Programmes" division, confirmed that the company's internal target date for the first flight is May 2008, as recently reported by Reuters, and said this was now likely to slip back another two months until July.

"May is the internal target but personally I think the first production aircrft is unlikely to fly before July," Williams told reporters on the sidelines of an A380 delivery ceremony.

The cumulative six-month delay will make it difficult to meet the targeted first delivery date of October 2009, he said.