Airbus Knocks Again on Irkut’s Door

At August’s Moscow airshow, Irkut and Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the Russian manufacturer to participate in the A350 airliner development and other future programs. The agreement, which has yet to be firmed up, follows an Airbus commitment to give the Russian industry a 3-percent risk-sharing stake in the A350.

Irkut is now almost a year into a 10-year, $200 million contract to make components for the A320 family. The two companies are already negotiating an extension to this agreement.