The EU has failed to eliminate billions of dollars in illegal aid to Airbus, according to the World Trade Organisation, handing US rival Boeing one of the biggest triumphs on the global stage in its 12-year battle with the European aircraft maker.
The WTO also found Airbus’s newest passenger jet, its popular A350 which competes head to head with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, would never have flown without the “direct and indirect effects” of past EU subsidies.
Washington, which claims the WTO ruling applies to some $22bn in illegal aid, hailed the findings as a “sweeping victory” that would redress years of damage to the US aerospace industry from wrongful European subsidies.