Mandelson unveils £340m aid for Airbus

"Lord Mandelson, UK business secretary, on Friday said that the government would give Airbus £340m of repayable launch aid for the A350, a new family of long-haul jets, and launched a sharp attack on US subsidies for its aircraft industry.

The funding is seen as vital to secure the UK’s share of the work on current and future Airbus projects.

Airbus will make about 18 per cent of the plane in the UK, utilising the wing expertise of the company’s plant at Broughton, near Chester, and also the GKN-owned factory in Filton, Bristol, where Lord Mandelson announced the measures.

There had been deep concern in the UK aerospace industry that without government funding, the development of important composite technology could be lost to rivals" Financial Times