US trade representatives have questioned whether Airbus is fully committed to terminating the A380 programme, which is set to close with the final deliveries in 2021.
US trade representatives have questioned whether Airbus is fully committed to terminating the A380 programme, which is set to close with the final deliveries in 2021.
Airbus disclosed in February this year that it would cease production of the A380 following delivery of a certain number of aircraft to Emirates.
Emirates is due to receive 11 more A380s, taking its overall total to 123.
But the latest World Trade Organization ruling over the US-European aircraft subsidies dispute mentions that the US side “questions the degree of certainty” over whether the A380 programme will be terminated.
It argues that there is “no assurance” that Airbus would not choose to continue the programme if a customer approached the airframer about a large A380 order.
But the WTO is sceptical over the US claim that Airbus could resume production.
“We do not share the [US] view that prospects remain high for Airbus to reverse its decision to terminate the programme, or that it would prove practicable to do so,” it states in its 2 December ruling.
It assesses that the A380 is unlikely to generate demand sufficient to justify reviving production after the final orders are fulfilled. European Union representatives in the dispute have also submitted evidence concerning the planned phasing down of the A380 programme.
“In addition, the [US side] appears to discount the significance of the effect of the ‘wind-down’ announcement on the outlook of potential buyers on the future viability of operating an A380 fleet going forward,” adds the WTO.
The EU side has argued that the termination of the A380 amounts to withdrawal of subsidies for the programme, because it confirms an end date for final repayments under the French, German, Spanish and UK launch aid and member-state financing contracts.
But the WTO has ruled that the wind-down disclosure, on its own, does not achieve the removal of present adverse effects of the A380 subsidies, as they relate to the market presence of the A380.
“In our view, those effects will persist while Airbus continues to produce and deliver the A380,” it states.
