Several buyers, including Turkey and Germany, have expressed frustration at repeated delays in deliveries of the heavy cargo and troop carrier, Europe's largest defence project.

"We are targeting a sales announcement for the A400M this year," Antonio Rodriguez-Barberan, an executive at Airbus Defence and Space, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Istanbul late on Tuesday.

"We hope this will drive a domino effect."

He did not give any details about the potential sale, such as the size of the deal or the purchaser.

Airbus acknowledged last year it faced more delays in delivering the aircraft, and took a charge of 551 million euros (£406.4 million).

Ankara has said it would force Airbus to pay a penalty or offer services in compensation for late deliveries.

Other European buyers -- jointly represented along with Turkey by defence procurement agency OCCAR -- include Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain. Malaysia has also agreed to buy the plane, which fits between the smaller Lockheed Martin C-130 and larger Boeing C-17.

Separately, Turkey's defence procurement agency said it expected to sign an agreement on Wednesday with Airbus on maintenance support for the A400M, allowing it to service the aircraft.

(Reporting by Can Sezer; Writing by David Dolan and Mark Potter)