Airbus C295
The Medium Airlifter

The stretched heir to the CN-235 became the world’s best-selling medium tactical transport, flown by 39 countries for airlift, rescue and maritime patrol, and is now built in India as well as Spain.

1997First flight

337Aircraft ordered

39Operator countries

9 tMax payload

Photo: Jakub Hałun / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

RoleTactical transport, maritime patrol, search and rescue, ISR and special missionsEra2000s to presentEngine2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turbopropsOriginSpain · CASA, EADS, Airbus Defence and Space; also assembled by Tata in IndiaStatusIn serviceWant to fly a real military jet?

The Story

The C295: how a stretched CN-235 conquered a market

By the mid-1990s the CN-235 had shown that there was a large market for a twin-turboprop airlifter smaller than a Hercules, and CASA reasoned that a bigger, more powerful version would sell even better. It stretched the fuselage by about three metres, strengthened the wing and undercarriage, and swapped the General Electric engines for Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprops of more than 2,600 shp. The prototype C-295 flew from Seville on 28 November 1997. Spain ordered nine in April 1999, and the type entered Spanish Air Force service in November 2001. The cockpit was all-glass from the start, and the aircraft kept the CN-235’s sturdy, rough-field undercarriage and rear ramp so that existing operators could move up without relearning the basics.

Its timing was good. Many air forces were retiring old C-47s, Antonov An-26s, Fokker F27s and early Hercules and wanted something cheaper to run than a C-130 for most of their missions. The C295 offered up to 9 tonnes of payload, 71 troops or around 50 paratroopers, a rear ramp, a pressurised cabin and short-field performance that let it use strips as short as about 670 metres. CASA became part of EADS in 2000 and of Airbus in 2015, and the aircraft followed its parent through each rebranding while orders came in from Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It was built in the same San Pablo plant in Seville that had produced the C-212 and CN-235, by engineers who knew what small air forces actually needed.

Airbus now lists 337 aircraft ordered for 39 countries, with more than 750,000 flight hours flown. Poland, Egypt, Algeria, Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and many others operate it; Canada bought it as the CC-295 Kingfisher for search and rescue; and in 2021 India ordered 56, of which 40 are being assembled by Tata Advanced Systems at Vadodara, the first private-sector military aircraft final assembly line in the country. Maritime patrol, anti-submarine, airborne early warning, firefighting, signals intelligence and tanker versions have broadened its reach, making it a family rather than a single aircraft. More versions continue to be added as operators find new uses for the same basic airframe.

Not the biggest or fastest airlifter, just the one that most air forces could afford to use every day.The Workhorse — medium transport for 39 countries

01The C295’s Indian chapter: Make in India at Vadodara

India’s Avro 748 transports, built by HAL from the 1960s, needed replacing, and in September 2021 the Indian Ministry of Defence signed a contract worth about ₹21,935 crore for 56 C295MW aircraft. The first 16 would be delivered from Seville; the remaining 40 would be built in India by Tata Advanced Systems in partnership with Airbus, at a new final assembly line in Vadodara, Gujarat. The foundation stone was laid on 30 October 2022, and the facility was inaugurated on 28 October 2024, with an initial capacity of about eight aircraft a year.

The programme matters beyond the aircraft. It is the first time a private Indian company has been entrusted with full final assembly of a military aircraft, and it brings Indian suppliers into the C295 supply chain for parts and sub-assemblies. A further contract in early 2024 for maritime patrol versions for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, valued at about ₹29,000 crore, extended the family in Indian service. For Airbus, Vadodara is a second home for an aircraft whose design began in Spain and whose ancestry runs through Indonesia.

02The C295’s search-and-rescue role: from Canada to Brazil

Fixed-wing search and rescue demands range, endurance, good sensors and the ability to drop survival equipment and parachutists to people in the water or on remote ground. The C295 has become a favourite platform for it. Brazil bought SAR versions for its huge territory and maritime area, and in December 2016 Canada chose 16 aircraft, designated CC-295 Kingfisher, to replace its veteran CC-115 Buffalo and CC-130H Hercules in the fixed-wing search-and-rescue role.

The Canadian aircraft carry electro-optical and infrared sensors, search radar and a crew including search-and-rescue technicians who can parachute to survivors. The first was delivered in 2020, but certification and training took longer than planned, and the type was declared operational in 2025, based at Greenwood, Trenton, Winnipeg and Comox. The Kingfishers now cover one of the largest rescue areas in the world, from the Arctic to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Design & Engineering

What makes the C295 special

A longer, stronger CN-235

The C295 keeps the CN-235’s general layout of high wing, pressurised fuselage, rear ramp and fuselage-mounted main gear, but its cabin is about three metres longer, 12.69 m to the ramp. It carries up to five standard military pallets, 71 seated troops or 24 stretchers with seven medical attendants, and its stronger structure takes a maximum payload of about 9 tonnes. Operators often describe it as filling the gap between light utility aircraft and the C-130.

Short fields, long legs

Two PW127G turboprops of 2,645 shp with six-blade propellers give a cruise speed of about 260 knots and take-off runs of around 670 m at maximum weight at sea level, with landing runs of about 320 m. With a modest payload it can fly about 5,000 km, and the C295W version with winglets and more power settings improves hot-and-high performance and fuel burn. Endurance of up to 11 hours or more suits patrol work.

A family of mission versions

Beyond transport, Airbus offers the C295 for maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare with its FITS tactical system, sonobuoys and weapons on six hardpoints; signals intelligence; airborne early warning with a rotodome-mounted radar; firefighting with a roll-on water tank; and air-to-air refuelling as a tanker. An armed version with guns and missiles has been marketed too. One airframe, supported worldwide, can thus serve several roles within one air force.

03The C295’s cockpit and systems: the Thales Topdeck and beyond

The C295 was designed for a two-pilot crew with a modern glass cockpit. Early aircraft used the Thales Topdeck avionics suite with large liquid-crystal displays, an integrated engine data and warning system, a Honeywell weather radar and night-vision-compatible lighting. Later production aircraft move to the Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion avionics, with touchscreen displays and improved navigation for operations in modern airspace.

The cargo hold measures about 12.69 m long, 2.70 m wide and 1.90 m high, with a rear ramp that can be opened in flight for airdrops and parachuting. The cabin can be reconfigured quickly between troop seats, stretchers, pallets and mission consoles. For the maritime versions, consoles for the tactical system and observers’ bubble windows are added, while the AEW demonstrator carried a large rotating radar dome above the fuselage. Common systems across versions keep training and support simpler for operators who use more than one variant.

Technical Data

Airbus C295 specifications

Specifications

Crew: 2 pilots plus loadmaster or mission crew
Capacity: 71 troops, about 50 paratroopers, 24 stretchers plus 7 attendants, or 9,000 kg (19,842 lb) of cargo
Length: 24.50 m (80 ft 4 in)
Height: 8.66 m (28 ft 5 in)
Max take-off weight: 23,200 kg (51,147 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprops, 1,972 kW (2,645 shp) each
Cruise speed: 482 km/h (260 kn)
Range: 5,000 km (2,700 nm) with 3,000 kg; 3,704 km (2,000 nm) with 6,000 kg; ferry 5,750 km (3,100 nm)
Service ceiling: 7,620 m (25,000 ft)
Take-off run: 670 m (2,198 ft) at sea level, ISA

Costs & production

Unit cost: No official list price; India’s 2021 contract for 56 aircraft with support was worth about ₹21,935 crore (roughly US$2.9–3.0 billion at the time)
Cost per flight hour: Hedged estimate: roughly US$3,000–5,000 per hour for transport versions, based on two PW127-class turboprops of the kind used on regional airliners plus military support costs; mission-equipped versions cost more; no official figure is published
Production: 337 ordered, 244 delivered and 241 in operation according to Airbus
Programme: First flight 1997; in service from 2001; final assembly in Seville and, from 2024, at Vadodara in India

04The C295’s variants: transport to early warning

C295M: the military transport.
C295W: improved version with winglets and higher engine ratings.
C295 MPA / Persuader and ASW: maritime patrol and anti-submarine versions with the FITS mission system and weapons hardpoints.
C295 MSA: maritime surveillance without weapons.
CC-295 Kingfisher: Canadian search and rescue version.
SC-105 Amazonas: Brazilian search and rescue version.
C295 AEW: airborne early warning demonstrator with a rotodome radar.
C295 SIGINT, firefighter and tanker: specialised versions offered by Airbus.

05The C295’s operating costs: why it outsold its rivals

The C295’s selling point is the cost of everyday operations. Its PW127G engines are a version of the engine family used on ATR regional airliners, so parts, tooling and expertise are widely available. Two engines burn much less fuel than the four on a C-130, and a two-pilot cockpit with a loadmaster keeps crew requirements low. For most real-world missions, carrying a few tonnes of cargo or a company of troops a few hundred kilometres, it does the job at a fraction of the cost. The hourly figure above is an estimate based on that class of engine and aircraft, not a manufacturer’s figure.

Timeline

The C295 from Seville to Vadodara

1997

First flight

The C-295 prototype flies from Seville on 28 November.

1999

Spain orders

The Spanish Air Force orders nine aircraft in April as the launch customer.

2001

Into service

The first C-295s enter Spanish service in November.

2008

Mirosławiec disaster

A Polish Air Force C-295 crashes on approach to Mirosławiec on 23 January, killing all 20 on board.

2012

Algerian loss in France

An Algerian C-295 crashes in Lozère, France, on 9 November, killing all six aboard.

2016

Canada chooses the Kingfisher

Canada orders 16 C295s for fixed-wing search and rescue.

2021

India’s big order

India signs for 56 aircraft, 40 to be built by Tata in Vadodara.

2024

Vadodara opens

The Tata Advanced Systems final assembly line is inaugurated on 28 October.

2025

Kingfisher operational

Canada’s CC-295 is declared operational for search and rescue.

Stories & Eyewitnesses

Stories & eyewitnesses: the C295 in service

Accident

Mirosławiec, January 2008

Poland’s worst military air disaster of its time killed its air force leaders.

Read the full story

On the evening of 23 January 2008, a Polish Air Force C-295M carrying senior officers back from an aviation safety conference crashed while approaching the 12th Air Base at Mirosławiec in poor weather. All 20 people on board were killed, many of them commanders of Polish air units. Poland grounded its C-295 fleet, Flightglobal reported, and later dismissed five personnel after an investigation that found failings in crew procedures and supervision rather than in the aircraft. The disaster profoundly shook the Polish Air Force.

Rescue

Canada’s Kingfisher

A Spanish airlifter now covers one of the world’s largest rescue zones.

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Canada selected the C295 in 2016 for its fixed-wing search-and-rescue replacement, ordering 16 aircraft designated CC-295 Kingfisher. They replace the CC-115 Buffalo, a short-take-off design famous among Canadian SAR crews, and the CC-130H in that role. The Kingfishers carry search technicians who can parachute to survivors, along with radar and electro-optical sensors. After a long certification process, the fleet was declared operational in 2025 from four bases spanning the country.

People

The first private-sector line in India

Tata’s Vadodara plant changed Indian defence manufacturing.

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When India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez inaugurated the Vadodara final assembly line on 28 October 2024, they marked a first: a private Indian company, Tata Advanced Systems, assembling a complete military transport. Forty of India’s 56 C295s are to be built there, with Indian suppliers making parts and sub-assemblies. For an aircraft with Spanish and Indonesian roots, it has become a showcase of India’s Make in India defence policy.

Accident

An Algerian aircraft lost in France

A ferry flight ended in the mountains of the Lozère.

Read the full story

On 9 November 2012, an Algerian Air Force C-295 flying from Paris back to Algeria disappeared from radar and crashed in the Lozère region of southern France, killing all six crew. French authorities opened an investigation, Flightglobal reported. The loss was one of only a handful of hull losses suffered by the type over more than two decades of service and hundreds of thousands of flight hours.

Rescue

Ireland’s new patrol aircraft

The C295 replaced its own ancestor over the Atlantic.

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The Irish Air Corps flew two CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft for nearly three decades before replacing them with C295 MPAs, delivered from 2023. The new aircraft took over fisheries protection, search and rescue support and pollution monitoring over Ireland’s vast Atlantic zone, with improved sensors and endurance. It was a direct generational handover within the same Spanish-Indonesian family of designs.

Record

750,000 hours and counting

An airlifter that keeps flying in many different roles.

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Airbus states that the worldwide C295 fleet has passed 750,000 flight hours, with 337 aircraft ordered by 39 countries. That makes it the most widely sold aircraft in its class. The figure covers transport, search and rescue, maritime patrol, anti-submarine, medical evacuation and firefighting work across four continents, and the fleet keeps growing as new orders arrive from Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Combat

An armed C295

Airbus showed a transport with guns and missiles.

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At the 2017 Dubai Airshow, Airbus displayed an armed C295 with a range of weapons, including guns, rockets and guided munitions, offering air forces a low-cost gunship and armed ISR aircraft. A gunship version was also proposed with Orbital ATK for Jordan, echoing the earlier AC-235. The concept follows the tradition of side-firing gunships pioneered by the AC-130, but on a smaller, cheaper airframe.

Training

Seville’s production line

The C295 is built where its ancestors were.

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C295s are assembled at Airbus Defence and Space’s San Pablo plant in Seville, the same site that built the C-212 and CN-235 and that assembles the A400M. Crews from many customer nations train there on the type before delivery. The continuity of design teams and facilities from the C-212 in the 1970s through the CN-235 and C295 explains much of the family’s success in the export market.

Gallery

The C295 in pictures

Operations

Where the C295 flies and flew

Service Record

The C295’s record

The C295 is a support aircraft whose record lies in airlift, search and rescue, maritime patrol and humanitarian work rather than combat. It has flown in support of operations in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, and its fleet has accumulated a large number of hours with relatively few losses.

750,000+Fleet flight hours (Airbus)

241Aircraft in operation (Airbus)

39Countries operating or ordering the type

See how training and combat types compare in the military aircraft statistics database. Figures are approximate.

Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about the C295

Can I fly in an Airbus C295?

MiGFlug does not offer flights in the C295, but you can fly several genuine military jets today, from the L-39 Albatros to the MiG-21, see MiGFlug’s jet flights.

Is the C295 the same as the CASA C-295?

Yes. It was designed by CASA as the C-295; after CASA joined EADS and later Airbus, it became the Airbus C295.

How much can the C295 carry?

Up to about 9 tonnes of cargo, 71 troops, around 50 paratroopers or 24 stretchers with seven medical attendants.

Which countries fly the C295?

Operators include Spain, Poland, Portugal, Egypt, Algeria, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Canada, India, Ireland and many others, 39 countries in all according to Airbus.

Where is the C295 built?

In Seville, Spain, by Airbus Defence and Space, and in Vadodara, India, by Tata Advanced Systems for the Indian Air Force. Indonesian Aerospace also has a role in the programme.

How does the C295 compare with the C-130?

The C295 is a smaller twin-engined aircraft carrying about 9 tonnes, against roughly 19 to 20 tonnes for a C-130J, but it is much cheaper to operate for most tactical missions.

The part of the museum you can fly