Airbus A400M; Credit: Luxembourg Army

Luxembourg's Directorate of Defence has announced that it is organising the Luxembourg Defence Open Air Days at Luxembourg Airport on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 October 2022, from 10:00 to 16:00.

This event will be an opportunity for members of the public to discover the aviation branch of the Luxembourg Defence.

In recent years, the Luxembourg Defence has substantially developed its capabilities in the fields of air transport and air surveillance. Through national and multinational programmes, Luxembourg now has a number of aircraft designed to carry out missions in these areas. With the support of the Luxembourg Army as well as national and international partners, the Directorate of Defence will exhibit these aircraft to the public at the upcoming Luxembourg Defence Open Air Days. 

Programme

Although the Luxembourg Army had three light surveillance and observation aircraft at its disposal in the early 1960s, it is historically an army specialised in the field of reconnaissance. However, to meet national and international (EU, NATO) needs, the Luxembourg Defence has developed new air capabilities in recent years. Due to the relatively small size of the country, the specific expertise required in the military air domain and for reasons of efficiency, this development has often been done in close cooperation with trusted international partners or in the scope of multinational programmes. Thus, the Defence today has access to a wide range of aircraft, some of which are stationed abroad for operational reasons.

In order to give the Luxembourg population and anyone interested a close-up view of these capabilities, the following aircraft will be on display during the first weekend of October 2022:

  • Airbus A400M - a transport aircraft belonging to the Belgian-Luxembourg binational fleet
  • Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) - strategic transport, air-to-air refuelling and medical evacuation aircraft of the Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF), composed of six participating nations (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and Luxembourg)
  • Beechcraft BE350 ISR - maritime reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft, contracted with DEA Aviation and currently operating as part of the IRINI mission, securing the Mediterranean under European Union (EU) mandate
  • Airbus H145M - light multi-role helicopter of the Luxembourg Army, equipped and made available to the Grand Ducal Police for police surveillance and search missions
  • Insitu Integrator - Short Range Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (SRTUAS) tactical reconnaissance and surveillance drone of the Luxembourg Army

The Airbus A400M will be open to the public and can be inspected from inside. Demonstrations of the surveillance cameras of the Airbus H145M helicopter and the Beechcraft BE350 ISR are also planned.

Experts and military personnel operating these various aircraft will be on site to answer technical or practical questions from the public.

Interested persons can register via the website https://identials.lu/gouv/registration/defence-open-air-days.

The event will be organised in a restricted area of Luxembourg Airport at Findel. This area is only accessible by a shuttle bus, which will run continuously between the airport's "Parking M" and the event venue.

The number of people allowed on the site is limited. It is therefore necessary to indicate a time slot when registering. Access to the site and the shuttle bus is only possible during this time slot. All attendees should thus arrive at the designated parking area on time.