Airbus says it paid £6 million fine in UK export control probe

PARIS: Airbus said on Wednesday it had paid just over £6.4 million to UK revenue and customs authorities to settle a two-year-old investigation into export control ‌violations.

The ⁠European planemaker ⁠announced the probe involving several of its ​British entities in 2024.

The settlement agreed earlier this ​month "closes and fully resolves the matter," Airbus said in notes to quarterly ​earnings released on Wednesday.


People familiar ⁠with the ‌probe have said it focused on anomalies over the cross-border transfer ⁠of parts for the A400M military airlifter that came to light during an audit in 2022.

Airbus declined comment on details of the investigation but said it had voluntarily disclosed the issues and had cooperated fully with ‌the review.

The company "has long since implemented comprehensive remediation measures," a ​spokesperson said.

In ​2020, Airbus ⁠agreed to pay $10 million and appoint an export control compliance officer to resolve findings ​by the State Department that Airbus had violated export controls known as the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).