This unusual-looking military transport aircraft was spotted circling low and slow above the skies of Chester and North Wales this afternoon (Thursday April 16).

The RAF Airbus A400M also did a ‘touch down and go’ on the runway at Hawarden airport according to the Airbus press office.

Airbus says none of the aircraft components are made at its Broughton plant although the wings are made at its Bristol factory. Spokesman Robert Gage said the appearance of the plane had caused a stir not only across Chester but among his colleagues as well because it was an ‘unusual’ sight.

He said: “You can’t work with planes and not love them. Some people may have thought it was in difficulty but I can confirm it wasn’t.

"Apparently it was here as part of a training exercise connected with the entry into service of the aircraft."

The Airbus A400M is a multi-national four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed by Airbus Military (merged in January 2014 to Airbus Defence and Space) as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities to replace older transport aircraft, such as the Transall C-160 and the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules.

The A400M can perform mission roles other than transportation, including electronic surveillance and aerial refuelling.

Launched in 2003, it was designed to respond to the combined needs of seven European Nations regrouped within OCCAR (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Turkey and the UK), with Malaysia joining in 2005. This is one of the major reasons for its extreme versatility. Its maiden flight took place on December 11, 2009.