The Airbus A400M Atlas, the Royal Air Force’s advanced tactical and strategic airlift aircraft, impressed the public, international air forces, and defence chiefs alike in New Zealand over the weekend 25/26 February.

This year marks the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s 80th anniversary and the RAF is proud to have been invited to take part in the celebrations at the Ohakea Air Tattoo.

Atlas, a highly-capable aircraft, provides a wealth of options in both operational and humanitarian environments. The aircraft played host to a meeting between the heads of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and of the Royal Air Force. Later, gifts were exchanged and both thanked the crew and engineers for bringing the aircraft 11,600 miles from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, to Ohakea to celebrate a great partnership between the two nations.