Already On Life Support, Planemaker Says $7.3 Billion more Needed To Complete The Project

Already years behind schedule and far over budget, Airbus says the A400M program will require an additional $7.3 billion in order to bring the aircraft to production. The figure was leaked by a French website Thursday as officials from several governments planned to meet for critical talks on the project.

The international news service AFP reports that the website letribune.fr cited an unnamed source "close to the negotiations" that indicated EADS was prepared to pick up about $1.1 billion of the additional cost.

AFP reports that the first day of talks among representatives of seven NATO countries was set for Friday. The focus of the meeting was to discuss how to move the project forward. Airbus has publicly threatened to scrap the A400M program if they don't get additional support from the already cash-strapped governments of Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Turkey.

FMI: www.eads.com