On 22 September, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) announced that the European Union had failed to eliminate illegal aid to Airbus, handing US rival Boeing one of the biggest triumphs on the global stage in its 12-year battle with Airbus. The WTO stated that the EU and Britain, France, Germany and Spain had failed to comply with earlier rulings against all but two of 36 contested measures, including high levels of European government loans to Airbus. The WTO added that the loans were a “genuine and substantial” cause of significant lost sales for Airbus’s US competitor Boeing. Furthermore, in its panel report, the WTO rejected new US claims that the repayable support for the airbus models A350 XWB and A380 are “prohibited subsidies.” The European Commission has insisted that parts of the WTO panel’s analysis were flawed and is considering an appeal. Two other WTO rulings are expected in the coming months in relation to US subsidies for Boeing.