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PARIS (AP) - The board of Airbus parent EADS approved the launch of the Airbus A350 XWB, the mid-sized jet designed to rival Boeing's 787, the company said Friday. In a statement, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. said funding for the new plane would come "predominantly from the company cash flows," but gave no details. Its success would depend on the successful implementation of cost-cutting plans at Airbus, EADS said. It gave no timetable for when it would go into service.
The decision by the EADS board, meeting in Amsterdam, comes a week after shareholders called off an earlier board meeting amid a dispute over how the plane would be funded.
Friday's statement did not say whether the program would draw on government funding. The European Union and United States are already embroiled in World Trade Organization litigation over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing Co. A decision to fund the A350 XWB with state-guaranteed loans or launch aid — repayable only if the program turns a profit — could exacerbate the dispute.
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