Czech Air Force Receives Its First Embraer C-390 Millennium Airlifter

The first of two C-390 Millennium transports ordered by Czechia landed at Prague-Kbely on July 6 after a 14-hour ferry flight from Brazil, escorted into Czech airspace by Gripen fighters.

The Czech Air Force received its first Embraer C-390 Millennium tactical transport on July 6, when the aircraft landed at the 24th Transport Air Base at Prague-Kbely. It is the first of two aircraft ordered from the Brazilian manufacturer in October 2024 under a contract worth CZK 11.3 billion (about US$508 million).

The airlifter departed Embraer's Gavião Peixoto facility in Brazil on July 4 and completed a 14-hour ferry flight with two stopovers. A pair of Czech JAS-39 Gripen fighters escorted the transport for the final stretch through national airspace. The aircraft wears a distinctive three-tone gray camouflage scheme designed by academic painter Pavel Holý of the Military History Institute in Prague.

The C-390 Millennium is a twin-jet transport capable of carrying up to 26 tonnes of cargo, and the Czech aircraft are configured for missions ranging from air transport, air assault and aerial resupply to medical evacuation, humanitarian aid, air-to-air refueling and firefighting. It cruises faster and carries nearly three times the payload of the C295s currently in Czech service.

For the Czech Air Force, the type significantly expands an airlift capability that has until now rested on six C295 light transports and a pair of A319CJs. The delivery is part of a broader modernization drive that also includes 24 F-35A fighters ordered in 2024, new AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters, and additional L-39NG trainers. With the arrival, Czechia joins Portugal and Hungary among European operators of the C-390, a list that continues to grow with orders from Austria, the Netherlands and others.

The second Czech C-390 is expected to be delivered in the 2027-2028 timeframe. The first aircraft will now begin crew training and operational integration with the 24th Transport Air Base's fleet at Kbely.