BEGGING and pleading for the Government to offer a massive loan to Airbus may be for nothing.

Not that the money will not be forthcoming - rather Airbus' parent company, EADS, may refuse to accept it.

This was the startling revelation by the chief financial officer of EADS Hans Peter Ring in an interview with Bloomberg news.

EADS, which holds 80% of Broughton-based Airbus, and 20% owner BAE Systems expect to decide in the next six weeks whether to proceed with the $5.13bn pan-European development of the A350.

A Deeside delegation is seeking £379m from the British Government to ensure wings for the A350 would be built at the Broughton plant.

However, the US and EU have lodged complaints with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), each claiming the other receives unfair government subsidies. US officials want to stop Airbus from taking developing loans for the A350 - a direct rival to Boeing's 787.

'The problem isn't the financing,' Mr Ring told Bloomberg. 'If we need it, we can get it. At the moment, the debate with the Americans is going on at the WTO, and we'll make it dependent on how these negotiations continue.'

The A350 would be a 250-300-seater, long-range plane to counter Boeing's planned 787, scheduled to enter service by 2008. Airbus has revised the A350 design four times to make the plane lighter and more efficient.

The board of EADS, based in Paris and Munich, gave Airbus clearance in December to offer the A350 to waiting airline customers before committing money to develop and build the plane. Airbus has already sought loans from Britain, France, Germany and Spain for 33% of the expense of the A350.

Noel Forgeard, co-chief executive of EADS since June and chief executive of Airbus for seven years before that, has said the plane maker can develop the A350 without state loans, although it may use the funding to reduce the amount EADS has to spend.