Meeting on Airbus military plane to seek deal

(AP) — Defense officials from seven nations will meet with representatives of manufacturer EADS in Berlin later this week for discussions on the future of the troubled Airbus A400M military transport plane, a German official said Tuesday.

The seven nations — Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey — and EADS officials will convene Thursday in hopes of reaching a compromise on the troubled plane, a German Defense Ministry spokesman said. He spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with German government policy.

In Paris, EADS chief executive Louis Gallois said of the talks that "we are going there with the desire to succeed."

EADS is urging the participating nations to increase their funding for the four-engine turboprop, which officials say is now four years behind schedule and more than euro5 billion (US$7.3 billion) over budget.

Last week government envoys met on the issue in London. They said they wanted to stick to the project, but not at any price.

The A400M had its maiden flight last month in Spain. The program was launched six years ago with an order for 180 airplanes from the seven countries.