UPDATE 1-EADS pleads not to be fined for A400M delay -FTD

(Adds no comment from EADS)

FRANKFURT, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The head of European aerospace firm EADS (EAD.PA) has written to the seven main countries that have ordered its Airbus A400M military airlifter to ask them not to make it pay fines for delays, the Financial Times Deutschland reported on Tuesday.

Louis Gallois did not detail any concrete figures for further cost increases or time delays in the letter, which was a precursor to negotiations with customers in the coming weeks, the paper said.

But the FTD added that recent speculation that costs for the A400M programme would rise by up to 700 million euros ($981 million) was too low, citing industry information.

The paper quoted an insider as saying deliveries of the A400M could be two years later than originally scheduled.

An EADS spokesman in Munich declined to comment on the report.

Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey have between them ordered 180 A400M airlifters. Exports to South Africa and Malaysia take the total of aircraft ordered to 192. (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Quentin Bryar)