by Aimée Turner at Farnborough air show
With the delay in the launch of the Airbus A350 taking the heat off of the transatlantic launch aid row for now, both sides insisted at Farnborough that an imposed World Trade Organisation settlement could be avoided.
Tom Enders, co-chief executive of Airbus parent EADS, says he is hopeful that Europe and the USA can come to a negotiated settlement. "I am a born optimist. I think that we can still come to a settlement that will [satisfy] both sides of the Atlantic," he says. "I think both sides agree that the WTO train, which has left the station, is not the best way to go."
His counterpart at Boeing, James McNerney, also said at the show that he was "optimistic" a government-to-government solution could be worked out between Brussels and Washington.
Meanwhile, German secretary for economics and technology Georg Adamowitsch says Europe and the governments of the four Airbus "home" countries remain committed to supporting efforts to negotiate a "balanced outcome regarding support for both current and future programmes".
Speaking at the show, he hinted that a risk-sharing mechanism could be used to provide launch aid, with European governments financing "the risk of an aircraft model not being commercially successful".
Representatives from the four Airbus governments confirmed at Farnborough that they would hold off on a decision on A350 funding until Airbus formally launches the new aircraft - something that is not expected until October.
The USA launched WTO litigation last year after unilaterally terminating the 1992 Large Civil Aircraft agreement because of Airbus's use of repayable launch aid for new aircraft programmes at a time when the European aircraft manufacturer had overtaken Boeing in terms of sales.
Brussels countered with a WTO case over what it alleges are indirect subsidies to Boeing, through favourable defence contracts, support from individual states and subsidies to risk-sharing programme partners in countries such as Japan.
Source: Flight International
