Austria retires first C-130
- Robin Polderman
- Nov 23
- 2 min read
Text and photos by Robin Polderman
On Thursday 20 November 2025, the Austrian Air Force said goodbye to its first C-130, serial number 8T-CA, after the former RAF Hercules made its last flight from home base Linz-Hörsching to the airbase of Wiener Neustadt.
According to Austrian Defence Minister Claudia Tanner, the aircraft has reached the end of its service life. At Wiener Neustadt, the aircraft will be partially dismantled to remove useful parts including propellers, engines and certain avionics before relegating the hulk to ground training purposes, mainly for paratroopers and special forces.
The aircraft in question, C-130K 8T-CA, was build in 1967 for the British RAF where it served with military serial XV181, before being sold to Austria and arriving there in March of 2003.
The two remaining C-130s of the Austrians will be withdrawn from use in 2027 and 2030 respectively.
Austria will receive four Embraer C-390 aircraft, the first of which will arrive in 2028. They were bought in a deal together with the Netherlands (5) and Sweden (4). Considerable savings were made by the three countries ordering the thirteen C-390 under a single contract.
To bridge the shortfall in transport capacity until the C-390 fleet reaches Full Operational Capability (FOC) in 2030, Austria signed an agreement with Portugal to fulfill its airlift needs using Portuguese C-130s and C-390s, with a number of Austrian pilots converting to the C-130H (which slightly differs from the C-130K) in the near future.
Since their introduction in 2003, the modest Austrian C-130 fleet has clocked up in excess of 18.000 flight hours.
C-130K 8T-CA (cn 4198)
25 May 1967 Delivery to the RAF as XV181
4 June 1975 Damaged during landing at Thorney Island, West Sussex
March 1978 Returned to service after repairs
2000 Withdrawn from use
2002 Sold to Austria, contract included overhaul at Cambridge
20 March 2003 Delivery flight to the Austrian Air Force as 8T-CA
20 November 2025 Final flight from Linz-Hörsching to Wiener Neustadt
