European governments are set to agree within weeks on providing about €3.5bn ($4.8bn) of repayable launch aid to Airbus to help finance the development of the A350, a new family of long-haul jets.
The move supported yesterday by France, Germany and the UK reignites the bitter dispute between the European Union and the US over claimed illegal subsidies for the development of big jets, which has already led to the most complex and longest running trade dispute at the World Trade Organisation.
The prospective deal announced yesterday at the Paris air show by ministers from the three European countries also exposed tensions, however, between Spain and its three partners in the Airbus financing arrangements.