Parliamentary trade and industry oversight authorities in the UK have opened an inquiry into the potential consequences of Airbus's current financial difficulties on aerospace suppliers.
The cross-party trade and industry select committee is tasked with examining expenditure and policies of the country's trade ministry, is inviting submissions to assist its efforts. It will investigate the effect on the supply chain of developments at Airbus, particularly in the wake of the airframer’s recent problems and the sale of BAE Systems’s shareholding in the firm.
It will focus on UK government grants to Airbus, the future of wing technology – the key contribution of UK industry to the Airbus programmes – and the potential effects of developments at the airframer on the country’s research and development base.
The inquiry is being opened as EADS nears a decision on the launch of the Airbus A350 twin-jet programme, with reports suggesting that there has been progress on negotiations to secure a financing agreement.
Around two-thirds of the cost is expected to be funded internally, from a mix of reserves and cost-savings, with the other one-third being derived from state-backed financing.
The business daily Financial Times reports that EADS’ core shareholders yesterday reached a broad settlement over funding, but that details – particularly over a potentially-inflammatory governmental contribution – have yet to be hammered out.
But the status of talks is unclear, and EADS suggests that it has yet to reach a full agreement on financing the programme, creating uncertainty over whether EADS has enough of a basis to approve the launch of the A350. EADS declines to comment on the situation and whether the A350 is likely to be given the go-ahead today.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
