NATO buyer nations for the European A400M military transport plane have postponed a ministerial meeting on the troubled program for three months until February, said two sources familiar with the 20 billion euro project.
BERLIN (Reuters) – NATO buyer nations for the European A400M military transport plane have postponed a ministerial meeting on the troubled program for three months until February, said two sources familiar with the 20 billion euro project.
Ministers had planned to meet in London in mid-November to discuss a potential reset after Airbus (AIR.PA) sought relief from heavy fines incurred due to technical snags and delays.
Airbus took a writedown of 1.2 billion euros on the program in February and warned of &ldquo-significant risks ahead&rdquo-.
It has been in talks with officials from Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK about the way forward.
Those talks are making steady progress but have not reached a conclusion, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named.
Germany, the largest A400M buyer and seen as the buyer most opposed to granting Airbus new relief after a previous bailout, is in the middle of protracted talks about forming a new coalition government, and it remains unclear if Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen will stay in her post.
Airbus declined comment. Pan-European purchasing agency OCCAR, which oversees Europe&rsquo-s largest defense project on behalf of the seven core buyer nations, could not be reached for comment.
Airbus received a 3.5 billion euro bailout from the seven nations in 2010, but it has suggested the funds did not go far enough in limiting the company&rsquo-s financial exposure.
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