Brussels, 23/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Union sent the United States an information letter on the level of State subsidies that will be granted to the future large civil aircraft A380, in accordance with the EU/United States bilateral agreement of 1992 on trade in large civil aircraft, announced the European Commission on Monday. "The information provided confirms that the support fully respects the criteria established by this agreement", assured Anthony Gooch, spokesperson for European Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy.
The total amount of the refundable subsidies announced by the seven European countries (France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and Finland) is far from the 33% ceiling for project costs, set by the bilateral agreement, he indicated. The amount of aid should remain below this level when Sweden and Italy have also specified the amount of their contributions, adds the Commission in a Communiqué. According to Community estimates, the value of subsidies would represent some USD 12 billion.
The Commission recalls in a Communiqué that the 1992 agreement foresees an information exchange on: 1) the amount of State subsidies; 2) the share of this support in the total costs of the development phase of the project; 3) an anticipated return on State advances at a level representing a minimum of 0.25% of government cost; 4) a planned repayment period of a maximum 17 years; 5) a forecast of the number of aircraft necessary to the repayment. "All these requirements have been fully respected", feels the European executive.
Airbus (80% owned by the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co - EADS - and 20% by the British BAE Systems Plc) announced in December 2000 having recorded 50 orders of the A380 and 42 options, notably from the airlines Air France, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Virgin Express and Emirats. The American express delivery company, FedEx Express, announced roughly ten orders, according to a press releases from Airbus. The planes should be delivered as of 2006. While Boeing abandoned it's competing large carrier, the 747X.