Avianca 'victim' in Airbus scandal, CE says

Avianca is a “victim” in the global scandal surrounding years of alleged bribes paid by manufacturer Airbus to bolster sales of its planes, Avianca’s CE said Thursday. The airline is conducting an internal investigation and is the subject of a probe by Colombian authorities related to a $4b settlement between Airbus and prosecutors in the US and Europe over bribery and corruption stretching back at least 15 years. French prosecutors have said Airbus documents show multi-million dollar commissions paid to an agent for jet sales to Avianca, including some meant for a high-ranking executive at parent company Avianca Holdings. “We were made aware of the issue around 10 days ago, it came out in France, it is obviously something very serious for us and that’s why we launched our investigation,” CE Anko van der Werff said. “It’s clear Avianca is a victim here.” Avianca is the target of a separate investigation by Colombian authorities related to tickets allegedly given to officials from El Salvador. The attorney general’s office searched the airline’s offices on Wednesday, seeking documents related to that case and also possibly to the Airbus probe.<br/>