Airbus takes control of Bombardier jets in rebuff to US threat

Paris

AIRBUS SE agreed on Monday to buy a majority stake in Bombardier Inc's CSeries jetliner programme, grabbing control of a struggling competitor at the second attempt and giving the Canadian plane-and-trainmaker an unexpected boost in its costly trade dispute with Boeing Co.

The deal, which would come at no cost for Toulouse, France-based Airbus, would give the European planemaker a 50.01 per cent interest in CSeries Aircraft Ltd Partnership (CSALP), which manufactures and sells the jets, the companies said.

While Bombardier will lose control of a plane programme developed at a cost of US$6 billion, it gives the CSeries improved…