MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Airbus A 380 a “European success story”.

European government leaders on Tuesday used the ceremonial unveiling of the Airbus A380 superjumbo to issue a rallying call for deeper European integration and industrial co-operation.

At the launch of the world's biggest commercial passenger jet, Jacques Chirac, French president, said: "We can and must advance further on the path of European integration, so essential for growth and employment."

Flanked by Tony Blair, British prime minister, Gerhard Schröder, German chancellor, and José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spanish prime minister, Mr Chirac said it was "a success of a European industrial policy" that had helped make Airbus the world's leading aircraft manufacturer.

The four countries are providing about ?3bn ($3.9bn) repayable launch aid for the A380 project, a move that has led to a bitter row between the US and the European Union over the legality of government subsidies for commercial aircraft development.

The US and the European Commission last week stepped back from the biggest trade dispute in the history of the World Trade Organisation by deciding to start talks on the subsidies row.

The four government leaders on Tuesday backed a strong stance by the Commission in the talks with Washington. Mr Schröder said: "There is tremendous competition . . . in the negotiations, the European Commission must really push for European interests and hold up the European flag."

The ?13.7bn A380 project is raising the stakes in the global battle between Airbus and Boeing and will end the US group's 35-year monopoly of the large aircraft market with its 747 Jumbo.

The 555-passenger A380 is due to enter service with Singapore Airlines in June 2006.

Numbers of A-380

Despite concerns of some airlines and the company's critics, Airbus' A380 came in under its target weight, meeting performance requirements so far, and alleviating concern that the model would be heavier and thus more costly to operate.

? Weight: 245 tons (empty). ? Price: $280 million. ? Operating cost: Target is 15 percent less than a 747.