Airbus issues statement on WTO AB report and the Second Compliance Communication by the EU

Airbus and the European member States France, Germany, Spain and the UK have agreed on some amendments to A380 and A350XWB Reimbursable Launch Investment (RLI) loans.

This allowed the European Union to notify the WTO of an additional set of compliance measures, responding to Tuesday’s publication of the WTO Appellate Body report. In its report, the WTO had clarified that the European Union and Airbus have achieved compliance in respect of the vast majority of the support at issue but considered that some remaining obligations required minor adjustments. Those have now been addressed by the EU. The terms of these amendments – like the terms of the original RLI contracts themselves – remain confidential but they are aligned with current market conditions.

Airbus General Counsel John Harrison stated: “We are confident that we have now achieved full compliance in the DS316 case as a clear demonstration of the will to ensure a fair trade environment respecting international trade agreements. Airbus is looking forward to seeing the same constructive attitude and actions of the US and Boeing in the upcoming DS353 case.”