That’s the scuttlebutt out of Europe, anyway. Reports say Airbus parent company EADS — which is set to announce the formal launch of the A350 on Thursday — won’t ask for government aid for the project until the international aerospace subsidy debate is decided by the World Trade Organization.
Key Quote 1 (from The International Herald-Tribune) http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/05/business/airbus.php :
“Airbus will officially introduce the A350 model on Thursday but European governments are expected to delay any formal aid pledges to the multibillion euro project, said an EU official familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations are ongoing.”
Key Quote 2 (from AP, via BizWeek) http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8D23TE82.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db :
“‘The deployment of possible aid will not be immediate,’ French Transport Minister Dominique Perben said in an interview with financial daily La Tribune, published in the paper’s Thursday edition.”
(Thursday’s edition? Yup — remember, Western Europe is eight or nine hours ahead of us, so Thursday’s papers are already available online when it’s Wednesday afternoon here.)
Key Quote 3 (from AFX, via Forbes) http://www.forbes.com/finance/feeds/afx/2005/10/05/afx2261780.html :
“Developing the new mid-sized A350 is expected to cost 4.35 bln eur, a third of which could be covered by reimbursable government loans.”
However, a report from The Financial Times in London http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=FT&Date=20051005&ID=5168964 suggests that European government aid for the A350 will be granted eventually.
Key Quote: “EADS and Airbus are confident that the UK, France, Germany and Spain are ready to support the project despite the trade conflict, and the four governments are expected to issue statements shortly, possibly as early as today, to express their backing, although the final details of the aid are still to be agreed in some cases.”
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