The WTO ruled Monday that a tax break from Washington State to help Boeing develop its new 777X jetliner was a prohibited subsidy. The ruling was a setback for the aerospace giant as it seeks victory in a parallel case against its European rival, Airbus. The trade organisation said the subsidy came in the form of a renewed cut in Washington State’s main business tax for aerospace. The state agreed to the tax cut in 2013, when Boeing was considering where to assemble the latest member of its long-haul jet family. It is the third time that taxpayer support for Boeing or Airbus has been faulted by the WTO in a trans-Atlantic trade spat dating back 12 years and involving mutual accusations of tens of billions of dollars of aid. The ruling can be appealed by either side. The US is considering sanctions against the European Union over Airbus subsides that were previously ruled illegal. The trade organisation did not give a value for the banned aid in its latest ruling, but the EU estimated it at $5.7b out of an $8.7b tax package in Washington, where most Boeing factories are based. Airbus said the measures had cost it $50bn in sales. Boeing said the aid in question would kick in only from 2020 and would be worth $50m a year, a fraction of the total amount at stake in what has been called the world’s largest trade dispute.<br/>
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US airlines are proceeding with plans to launch new flights to Cuba this week despite doubts that President-elect Donald Trump has raised about the future of ties between the countries. American Airlines kicked off its first flight to Havana from Miami on Monday and intends to launch Charlotte-Havana service on Wednesday. Its rival for Caribbean travel, JetBlue Airways, has three new flights to Havana starting this week, with the first having departed from New York on Monday at 9:45 a.m. ET, according to tracking website FlightAware.com. The new service comes as Trump said in a Twitter post on Monday that he will "terminate [the] deal" between Cuba and the United States if the communist-ruled island does not make an agreement that is better for the people of both countries. The former Cold War foes began normalizing relations in December 2014 after 18 months of secret talks and have since restored full diplomatic ties. They reached a memorandum of understanding that allowed US airlines to start scheduled flights to Cuba after a half-century hiatus, and the Obama administration has eased travel restrictions for US citizens - though general tourism remains illegal. It was not immediately clear if Trump would target the aviation deal or other aspects of the detente. It also was unclear if there would be any impact from the death on Friday of Fidel Castro, who ousted US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in Cuba's 1959 revolution. "While we can't speculate, we are full steam ahead to begin service to Havana this week," said an American Airlines spokesman. "We are proud to be the leading carrier between the US and Cuba."<br/>
Bombardier has delivered the first CS300 aircraft to Latvia’s airBaltic. The CS300, the first of an order for 20 from the Latvian flag carrier, was handed over at Bombardier’s Montreal plant in Canada. “We are thrilled to be taking home the first CS300 aircraft,” airBaltic chief executive Martin Gauss said. It will “enable airBaltic to open new routes and connect people all across Europe,” he added. The CS300 is the larger of the two CSeries aircraft from Bombardier. airBaltic will operate it in an all-economy configuration with 148 seats. Its first commercial flight is scheduled for December 14, from Riga to Amsterdam.<br/>