Greece is set to become the latest customer of Embraer’s C-390 multi-role military transport aircraft, after a proposal to acquire three of the twinjets was approved by a parliamentary committee in Athens.

The Special Standing Committee on Armaments Programs and Contracts approved the deal on 10 June, according to local media outlets, which list the value of purchase at roughly €600 million ($694 million).

The C-390s would replace the Hellenic air force’s six Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transports, all of which are legacy models.

The service currently operates five H-model C-130s, according to fleets data from aviation analytics company Cirium. All of these are around 50-years old, Cirrium suggests. The sixth aircraft is a 64-year-old C-130B built in 1961.

Embraer tells FlightGlobal that the company is not directly involved in the negotiations for a Greek C-390 acquisition. Instead, Greece worked out a deal with Portugal to take advantage of existing C-390 options already controlled by Lisbon.

“We as a company stand ready to support Portugal,” says Marcio Monteiro, chief marketing officer at Embraer Defense & Security. “We don’t have direct contact with Greece in these government-to-government arrangements. Our direct support is to, in this case, Portugal.”

A similar arrangement is in effect for several other C-390 customers in Europe. Sweden and Austria each ordered four of the transports using options from a master contract with the Netherlands, which maintains the legal relationship with Embraer.

Two of Austria’s aircraft are currently undergoing final assembly in Gaxio Peixoto.

Because the Greek order would come via previously issued options, the sale does not immediately impact Embraer’s backlog. The company says its current C-390 backlog includes firm orders for 60 aircraft, plus options for 29 more.

An order from Athens would shift three aircraft from the options column to firm sales.

Source: Flight Global