The most important immediate effect of the formation of EADS may be to fully unblock the Airbus logjam. With 80% of the consortium in the hands of one entity, the path to the creation of a single corporate entity (SCE) through one more bilateral involving British Aerospace seems clear.
The major complication in establishing the SCE may be BAe's stance on Airbus. The company says it has no plans to sell its 20% stake, but would lose its veto after SCE. A launch decision on the A3XX could complicate the final steps towards SCE. BAe is Europe's fighter leader with stakes in Eurofighter and Saab. Its European rival is Dassault, but the pair have a joint venture on combat aircraft technologies. Fighter expertise in Dasa, Alenia and CASA depends on Eurofighter and on BAe.
Source: Flight International
