Given the green light by European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Go. (EADS), Airbus Industrie (Toulouse, France) has officially launched its mid-sized, 250-passenger A350 commercial jetliner. The program launch had been scheduled for June but was delayed due to the then-hot transatlantic trade dispute over aircraft subsidies, Airbus reports. Negotiators from the U.S and the European Union (EU) are still working to settle the dispute that began last year when the U.S. declared a 1992 pact on aircraft subsidies to be void and filed a World Trade Organization complaint against what it termed EU government aid to Airbus. Airbus says it will receive no development loans for the A350 from European countries, at least through 2006, as long as there is a good chance of successful settlement with the U.S. on the issue of aircraft subsidies - despite the British government's recent agreement in principle to a state-aid package to help launch the A350. The aid reportedly would come in the form of a loan, valued at 673 million dollars (USD), which would be repaid should the A350 sell successfully.
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