Qantas cancels order for 8 Airbus A380s

Aircraft and agricultural items from Europe will be subject to US tariffs in the latest round of a long legal fight. The move sets the stage for tit-for-tat trade escalation between the United States and European Union.

In the Middle East, Airbus and Boeing are trying to wow aviation chiefs and ink billion-dollar deals. Airbus has profited from its rival Boeing’s turbulent year, but things aren’t all one-sided.

The US has said it may increase tariffs after the EU lost its case at the WTO. The US claimed that loans made by the EU to Airbus for the development of the A380 and other aircraft represented an unfair advantage.

Boeing has seen a sharp fall in deliveries as its bestselling MAX jets remain grounded following two fatal crashes. It's not the first time the US planemaker has lost the crown to its European rival.

Airbus reports a net loss of 1.36 billion euros in 2019 after being hit by a 3.6-billion-euro fine over a bribery scandal and extra development costs for the A400M transport aircraft.

The planemaker's Germany-based subsidiary, Defence and Space, has said it's undergoing "restructuring" after major financial losses. The group will cut a total of 2,362 jobs.

The boss of Airbus, Guillaume Faury, has said the Covid-19 pandemic represents "the gravest crisis the aerospace industry has ever known", as the company reported a slump in revenues and losses of €481 million in the first three months of 2020. Air travel has almost completely stopped due to the coronavirus, and uncertainty over when it will restart means Airbus is unable to provide guidance on how its business will perform for the rest of the year. Also today, the French government is beefing up its supervision of non-EU companies buying stakes in French firms.

The airplane maker Airbus is expected to shed thousands of jobs in its response to the coronavirus epidemic. Production is expected to be cut by some 40%.

The new tariffs apply to European products including wine and aircraft manufacturing parts. The move comes as part of an ongoing dispute between the US and EU over civil aviation subsidies.

The row — one of the longest-running in WTO history — saw the trans-Atlantic allies impose billions of dollars in tariffs. The deal eases a major point of tension between Brussels and Washington, for now.

The two sides have been locked in a row over subsidies for European planemaker Airbus and its US rival Boeing for almost two decades.

Airbus Summit unveils the 'flying taxi', also known as a giant drone, which can carry up to four passengers and travel up to eighty kilometres at a speed of one hundred and twenty kilometres per hour. The aim is to create an environmentally friendly means of transport. The first flight of the latest model is expected to take place in 2023.