Airbus Super-Jumbo sheds financial weight in new state aid deal

Airbus's revised deal with the countries that helped fund the A380 superjumbo almost two decades ago will help save the planemaker more than $1.4b, according to a regulatory filing. Future obligations for refundable advances declined by about about 17% to an estimated E5.9b, Airbus said in its annual financial statements published Wednesday. While the balance includes other items, the bulk of the discount came from revisions to the A380’s outlook and talks to restructure the agreement. The manufacturer said last week it reached the long-sought deal easing repayments to the countries, including Germany, France and the U.K., that loaned Airbus about E3.5b in 2000 to start the A380 program. Sales of the double-decker have been slow since its commercial introduction in 2007, and the program is unprofitable. As recently as Jan. 15, company executives were warning it could be killed if they couldn’t secure a vital new $16b order from its biggest customer, Emirates. The reduced financial burden gives Airbus crucial breathing room to lower the production rate on the plane to six per year if necessary, from the eight it plans to build in 2019. The accord “is beneficial to governments and certainly also to Airbus, and helps us to carry on with this very important program that the A380 is,” CEO Tom Enders said last week. “It is no secret we have government loans we are paying levies on that is quite a burden for the company going forward.”<br/>