Germany and Airbus in talks about €600m in A380 loans
The loans are at the centre of a longstanding trade dispute about mutual claims of illegal aircraft subsidies between the EU and the US
Berlin — Germany is in talks with Airbus about €600m in outstanding loans advanced for development of the A380 superjumbo, which the European plane maker now plans to scrap, the Berlin government said on Monday. The loans are at the centre of a longstanding trade dispute about mutual claims of illegal aircraft subsidies between the EU and the US. A spokesperson for the German economy ministry confirmed the value of the outstanding loans, first reported by Funke Mediengruppe newspaper chain, but said it was premature to discuss how the issue would be resolved. “We are analysing the consequences and discussing the issue with the company,” she said. Airbus in February said the production line for the world’s largest passenger plane would shut down prematurely from 2021, after just 14 years in service, because customers preferred smaller jets. It said it would no longer need to repay any outstanding state loans on the A380 because governments had agreed to share risk in the roughly €15b...
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