To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what Government grants were awarded to BAE Systems for the purchase of shares in Airbus in 1979. (82416)

The Department has no record of grants being given to either British Aerospace or its successor BAE Systems for the purchase of shares in Airbus.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost (a) gross and (b) net after loan repayments was of support by the UK Government to Airbus programmes in each year since 1985. (83570)

Launch investment is a risk-sharing Government investment in the design and development of civil aerospace projects in the UK. It is not a loan. The investment is repayable at a real rate of return, usually via levies on sales of the product.

The amounts paid to Airbus in launch investment and the amounts received from Airbus in repayment of launch investment in each of the years from 1984-85 to 2005-06 inclusive are set out in the following table, with the net figures (Receipts-Payments) in the final column.