Airbus could be looking at a nice aid package worth almost £350 million thanks to the UK government. This aid package will be used towards the development of the A350 XWB. This is a carbon fiber aircraft that aims to rival the new Boeing Dreamliner. This package from the UK government represents about half of what Airbus was seeking from the UK to develop the wide body jet.

The Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, is expected to confirm that the UK will be supporting the launch of the Airbus carbon fiber aircraft when he visits the company’s facility at Filton, which is near Bristol. The German, Spanish, and UK governments have traditionally supported new Airbus aircrafts through repayable launch aids. The amount of work allocated to each of the countries is proportional to the loans given.

Normally the UK receives about a fifth of the work on new Airbus planes. Airbus was thought to have asked the British Government for almost €700 million. However, the treasury’s growing debt led to the UK government only being able to pledge £350 million. It has not yet been made clear if the UK will lose work as a result of the lack of funds.

Airbus is seeking a start up total of €3.5 billion to help develop the new plane. The French and German governments combined have already offered up €2.5 billion. As of right now, Airbus employs about 11,000 people at Broughton and Filton in North Wales. More information is sure to surface on this story soon.