Earlier this month, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office announced a criminal investigation into Airbus, looking at allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption www.airbus.com).

A spokesman said: “These allegations relate to irregularities concerning third-party consultants,” adding that no more details of the probe will be made public until charges are brought or the investigation is dropped.

In a statement, the European plane maker said that it is working with investigators. “We ourselves detected this issue and self-disclosed it to the authorities. This is as an effort of our enhanced anti-corruption policy. Management has taken robust action and is determined to resolve this issue in co-operation with the authorities.”

Airbus informed the authorities of the irregularities in April. That same month, UK Export Finance decided to suspend export credits to the group — a move followed by France and Germany.