European governments are set to agree within weeks on providing about €3.5bn ($4.8bn) of repayable launch aid to Airbus to help finance the development of the A350, a new family of long-haul jets.

The move supported on Monday by France, Germany and the UK reignites the bitter dispute between the European Union and the US over claimed illegal subsidies for the development of big jets, which has already led to the most complex and longest running trade dispute at the World Trade Organisation.