A large part of Airbus’s global fleet was grounded after the European airplane maker discovered a technical malfunction linked to solar radiation in its A320 family of aircraft. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency announced on Friday evening that it was temporarily pausing flights on certain Airbus planes after a JetBlue flight from Florida to Mexico had to make an emergency landing after a sudden loss of altitude. Media reports indicate that some 15 people were hospitalized after the incident. Airbus said in a statement late Friday that it had identified an issue with its workhorse A320 planes. “Intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” it said, adding that it had “identified a significant number” of affected aircraft. A number of airlines around Europe announced that they were affected, including Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines. Brussels Airlines said that none of its flights was impacted. Sara Ricci, communications chief for Airbus’s commercial aircraft division, said that some 6,000 aircraft were affected, but that for 85 percent of the impacted aircraft, it would be a “quick fix” to the planes’ software. “The vast majority will be back in the sky very soon,” Ricci said.

Slovakia’s transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine was not a criminal offense, the Bratislava prosecutor’s office said Monday. Slovakia donated its entire fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters and two anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine in the spring of 2023, making it the first country to send warplanes to Kyiv after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s all-out invasion in February 2022. The current defense ministry — in Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government, which has maintained warm ties with Russia despite its ongoing assault — last June lodged a criminal complaint against former Prime Minister Eduard Heger and his Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď, who had taken the fighter jets decision. Both pushed back against the ministry’s allegations that they had committed sabotage, abuse of power and breach of duty in the management of public property. The Bratislava investigator halted the criminal prosecution on Oct. 30 “because it was sufficiently established that the act in question does not constitute a criminal offense and there is no reason to refer the case further,” a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office told POLITICO. The probe concluded that the donation of military equipment to Ukraine hadn’t caused any harm to Slovakia, as defined by the country’s Criminal Code, the spokesperson said. “Nor was it proven that members of the government acted with the intent to obtain an unlawful benefit for themselves or others, or that they exercised their authority in a manner contrary to the law or exceeded their powers,” she added. In a post on Facebook, Naď said: “It has been confirmed what I have repeatedly said: that the government of Eduard Heger, with me as Minister of Defense, acted not only morally correctly but also in the national interest of the Slovak Republic and fully in accordance with applicable laws and the constitution in connection with the donation of the MiG-29 aircraft.” Naď added that he expects an apology from Fico’s government.

Unidentified drones affected Belgian airports from Thursday evening into Friday morning, amid an escalating crisis in the European skies. Liège Airport briefly suspended air traffic twice, around 10 p.m. on Thursday night and again Friday morning around 6 a.m., each time for about an hour, according to public broadcaster VRT. The airport handles mainly cargo, with only a few passenger flights each day. Brussels airport also had to divert one flight to Amsterdam Thursday night after a drone was detected nearby. Air traffic at Brussels Airport was disrupted by more drone sightings on Tuesday evening. As the continent’s issues become more widespread — and some European governments have pointed the finger of blame at Russia — drones were also spotted over Antwerp’s port area on Thursday night. For consecutive nights on Tuesday and Wednesday, drones were also observed above the Royal School for Non-Commissioned Officers in the Flemish city of Sint-Truiden. Belgium held a National Security Council meeting Thursday, after which Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said that authorities had the situation “under control.” Defense Minister Theo Francken vowed to strengthen Belgium’s National Air Security Center (NASC). “The NASC in Bevekom must be fully operational by January 1,” he wrote in a social media post. “This center will ensure better monitoring and protection of Belgian airspace and prepare Belgium for future challenges in air security,” he added.

President Donald Trump on Monday insisted the U.S. is going “full steam ahead” on a major nuclear-powered submarine pact, ending months of uncertainty over whether his administration would keep the alliance with Australia and the U.K. The Pentagon announced this summer that it was reviewing the deal, known as AUKUS, fueling angst in Canberra and London that the Trump administration might walk away from a rare agreement to expand production of nuclear submarines and partner on tech to ward off China. But Trump gave his support Monday at a White House meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, where leaders sought to reset the tone of the relationship after weeks of speculation about the pact’s future. “We’re just going now full steam ahead,” Trump said when asked about the deal. “They’re building magnificent holding pads for the submarines. It’s going to be expensive. You wouldn’t believe the level of complexity and how expensive it is.” Canberra has committed billions to develop submarine and naval shipbuilding facilities in western Australia, designed to host and maintain U.S. and U.K. nuclear-powered submarines while revving up construction of new ones. The new infrastructure would turn Australia into a hub for allies and their submarines in the region, all aimed as a bulwark against China. Navy Secretary John Phelan, at the meeting, said the plan is to “take the original AUKUS framework and improve it for all three parties, and make it better, clarify some of what was in the prior agreement.” Trump, who is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming weeks, said he views AUKUS as a deterrent against Beijing but not a step toward a confrontation. And he dismissed the idea of a conflict over Taiwan. “We’ll be just fine with China,” he said. “First of all, the United States is the strongest military power in the world by far.” Trump and Albanese also signed a deal for critical minerals and rare-earth elements, formalizing joint investments between the two countries to strengthen non-Chinese supply chains for materials crucial for defense and high-tech manufacturing. Officials negotiated it over the last few months, Trump said. Albanese described it as an AUD $8.5 billion pipeline, with joint contributions over the next six months. “Australia has had a view for some time — it’s similar to putting America first,” he said. “Our plan is called ‘A Future Made in Australia,’ which is about not just digging things up and exporting them, but making sure we have supply chains where our friends can benefit.” The mineral push comes amid increasing trade tensions between the U.S. and Beijing, which has tightened export controls on rare-earth elements and permanent magnets. Both are vital for defense and high-tech products. Trump reiterated his threat to levy hefty tariffs on China if it does not relent on the new trade restrictions. “They threatened us with rare earths, and I threatened them with tariffs,” he said. “We could stop the airplane parts, too. We build their airplanes.”

President Donald Trump on Friday said he will set a 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods starting on Nov. 1 and will “impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.” Trump’s announcement on social media came after he shared a post earlier in the day threatening “massive” new tariffs on China and hinted he might cancel an upcoming summit meeting with President Xi Jinping in response to a move by Beijing earlier this week to restrict exports of rare earth magnets and raw materials. “This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World,” Trump said in a lengthy morning post on Truth Social. “I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so.” The 100 percent duty, which Trump said could come “sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China,” would re-establish what was effectively an embargo on Chinese goods in the spring. The two countries reached a detente after negotiations in late May, but kept tariffs at a level much higher than before. The U.S. currently imposes duties averaging about 55 percent on Chinese goods. That includes a 10 percent reciprocal rate, a 20 percent duty linked to U.S. concerns about fentanyl trafficking and additional tariffs imposed during Trump’s first term. At a late afternoon White House event, Trump told reporters he still might go ahead with the meeting with Xi, which has been expected to take place in South Korea in late October, shortly before that country hosts the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit. “I haven’t canceled, but I don’t know that we’re going to have it,” Trump said. “But I’m going to be there regardless, so I would assume we might have it.” Trump also indicated he could drop his tariff threat if China rolls back its plan to impose new export controls. “We’re going to have to see what happens. That’s why I made it November 1st,” Trump said. In his first Truth Social post, Trump wrote that China had been sending letters to countries throughout the world informing them of plans to restrict exports “of each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China.” “Nobody has ever seen anything like this but, essentially, it would ‘clog’ the Markets, and make life difficult for virtually every Country in the World, especially for China. We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere,” Trump wrote. China should not be allowed to exert “monopoly” power over the exports of rare earth magnets, which are used in a number of high-tech, green energy and medical goods, Trump continued. But if Beijing follows that course, “the U.S. has Monopoly positions also, much stronger and more far reaching than China’s,” he added. During the late afternoon White House event, Trump said the United States could also restrict exports of aircraft parts and potentially other goods to China. “We have many things [China needs], including a big thing is airplanes. But they have a lot of Boeing planes, and they need parts and lots of things like that,” Trump said. Late last month, U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue said the two countries were in the final stages of negotiations for a “huge” sale of Boeing aircraft to China but that deal now looks in doubt. The Chinese Embassy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump’s Truth Social post could mark the decisive end to a fragile trade truce that the U.S. and China have sustained since May. It also suggests that Beijing’s tightening grip on its critical mineral supply has derailed the White House strategy of reducing trade frictions in the run-up to the long-anticipated meeting between Trump and Xi in South Korea at the end of October. “This week’s export-control expansion looks like a miscalculation — what Beijing sees as leverage, Washington views as betrayal,” said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Trump’s statement shows that even a deal-driven White House has limits, and China may have just crossed them.” “But the risk is clear,” Singleton continued. “Mutually assured disruption is no longer a metaphor. Both sides are reaching for their economic weapons at the same time, and neither seems willing to back down.” Earlier this year, Trump hiked his reciprocal tariff on China up to 125 percent, which Beijing matched in a series of tit-for-tat moves. That led to a meeting in May where the two sides agreed to scale back their tariffs for 90 days while talks continued. The two sides agreed in August to extend the reduced tariff rates for another 90 days, raising the stakes for the upcoming Xi-Trump meeting that has been expected to take place just before the annual APEC leaders meeting on Oct. 31 through Nov. 1. Trump’s trade moves have already significantly reduced trade with China, which was the United States’ third-largest trading partner in 2024. U.S. imports from the Asian heavyweight totaled $194 billion in the first seven months of 2025, compared with $239 billion in the same period last year. U.S. exports to China in January through July totaled $65 billion, compared with $82 billion in the same seven months in 2024. U.S. exports of agricultural products, particularly soybeans, to China have been hit particularly hard, prompting the Trump administration to consider ways to provide billions of dollars of subsidy payments to farmers. Phelim Kine contributed to this report.

Elisabeth Braw is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, the author of the award-winning “Goodbye Globalization” and a regular columnist for POLITICO. Between January and April of this year, an astounding quarter of all flights in the eastern Baltic Sea region experienced GPS disturbances. And the fact that these incidents haven’t resulted in any aviation disasters so far is thanks to pilot skill. This is yet another example of Russia’s callous disregard for human life. The Kremlin knows that the impacted countries would never countenance doing the same to Russian aviation. But collectively, we can still blunt the harm of these dangerous tactics. When I boarded a flight to Helsinki and back again last month, I did so without any fear, as I knew the pilots were highly skilled and up-to-date with their training. That’s a good thing because Finland is one of half a dozen countries currently experiencing an extraordinary surge in GPS interference. According to the Swedish National Television, 122,607 flights in Swedish, Finnish, Polish and Baltic airspace were affected by GPS disturbance during the first four months of 2025. In April, more than 27 percent of all flights were affected, and in some places, the figure was up to 42 percent. It didn’t use to be like this. Though most countries experience occasional GPS blips, constant disturbances aren’t a regular part of daily life in any peaceful part of the world. But in aviation — and shipping — 2023 was the last somewhat normal year for the Baltic Sea region, at least in terms of GPS. That year, the Swedish Transport Agency received reports of 55 incidents resulting from both GPS jamming — which blocks crucial positioning signals — and GPS manipulation, which distorts them. Since then, the interference has grown at a mind-boggling rate, reaching 495 cases in 2024. And during the first four months of this year, the Swedish Transport Agency received a staggering 733 reports of incidents in Swedish airspace. The authorities know the source of the disturbances: They’ve traced them to devices in Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Smolensk and Rostov. The latter three cities have military installations, and Kaliningrad is practically an arms depot. Blocking or manipulating GPS helps Russia protect such installations, presumably against Ukrainian drones. But the scale of this jamming and spoofing is massive, and it poses risks to civilian pilots, airline and shipping crews, passengers and anyone else who depends on the global positioning system. Of course, pilots are trained to smanually operate their aircraft whenever such problems occur, but GPS exists for a reason: It makes flying safer and more efficient. Without it, pilots need a line of sight, and they need to be able to interact with systems on the ground. That often means having to wait to land, which also creates additional carbon emissions. But what does Russia care about carbon emissions? The war in Ukraine has been an environmental disaster. It’s a mind-boggling situation we’re in: Persistent GPS interference that endangers both aviation and the environment, and yet, we can’t stop it. An astounding quarter of all flights in the eastern Baltic Sea region experienced GPS disturbances. | Johannes Simon/Getty Images No, we really can’t. Commentators and members of the public often complain that European leaders are spineless, that they don’t take action or recognize the threats facing their countries — but they do. They recognize the threats posed by foreign militaries, as well as nonmilitary aggression like GPS jamming, gig agents, the shadow fleet, the weaponization of migration and much else. They’re aware that Russia’s GPS interference poses an immediate and unnecessary risk to aviation and shipping across Europe and not just the Baltic Sea region, as the jammers can reach far into the continent. But what would we do about such activities if we were in charge? Retaliate by jamming GPS in Russian airspace and risk the lives of airline passengers there? Hire gig agents to set fire to Russian shopping malls or plant parcel bombs on airliners? I think not. Such actions are immoral, unethical and unworthy of liberal democracies — and they would trigger dangerous escalation by Russia or whichever country we’d be trying to punish for its dirty aggression against us. But while governments can try to find ways of blocking GPS jammers, putting the shadow fleet out of business and so on, the rest of us can be vigilant and aware of our surroundings. If we see someone behaving suspiciously, we can report it to the authorities. If the aircraft we’re on needs a bit longer to land, we can refrain from bickering with the flight attendants or the ground staff. We can thank the pilots. National security is a collective undertaking. Being our usual self-centered selves simply won’t do when other countries are on the attack.

BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has a clear term for the reports of drones overflying Europe’s critical infrastructure in recent months: “Hybrid warfare.” “Something new and dangerous is happening in our skies,” she told the European Parliament on Wednesday. “In just the past two weeks, MiG fighters have violated Estonia’s airspace, and drones have flown over critical sites in Belgium, Poland, Romania, Denmark and Germany. Flights have been grounded, jets scrambled and countermeasures deployed to ensure the safety of our citizens. Make no mistake. This is part of a worrying pattern of growing threats.” The Parliament is preparing a resolution this week sounding the alarm about “Russian agents” using drones to disrupt air traffic. However, airport authorities say that drones are nothing new, and the rate of incidents has been rising for years. While Russia is suspected of being behind a lot of what’s going on, it’s very difficult to prove. In some cases — like when Russian war drones overflew Poland and Romania — the Kremlin’s fingerprints are easy to spot. But a lot of the recent incidents are much murkier. The head of a defense company producing missiles in Belgium reported a worrying increase in drone appearances. Unmanned aerial vehicles of unknown origin prompted the closure of airports in Denmark, Norway and Germany. “One incident may be a mistake. Two, a coincidence. But three, five, 10? This is a deliberate and targeted gray zone campaign against Europe. And Europe must respond,” von der Leyen said. NOTHING NEW Drone incursions over airports are not infrequent. “Encounters with drones have been occurring for quite a few years now, and they became more frequent in the [European] Union when the import of smaller consumer drones began to soar around 2010,” said Sander Starreveld, director of the SIG Aviation consultancy. According to data released by the EU Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, in 2021, the number of incidents involving drones in European aviation soared from around 500 a year in 2015 to nearly 2,000 in 2019. EASA was unable to provide more recent data. Collecting information is not easy. “One incident may be a mistake. Two, a coincidence. But three, five, 10? This is a deliberate and targeted gray zone campaign against Europe. And Europe must respond,” Ursula von der Leyen said. | Thierry Monasse/Getty Images “Air traffic control systems are generally unable to detect small drones, as traditional radar is optimized for large aircraft with substantial radar-reflective surfaces, not lightweight carbon-fiber devices,” said Frédéric Deleau, vice president for Europe of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations. “Consequently, small UAVs often fall below radar detection thresholds or are mistaken for birds or clutter.” “To close this gap, several airports have deployed specialized drone-detection technologies, including radar, radio-frequency scanners, electro-optical cameras, and acoustic sensors,” Deleau said. But this may not be sufficient to identify all drones. “No single technology yet offers complete and reliable coverage,” he said. FROM ‘PILOTS’ TO CRIMINALS Not all drones have a Moscow link — although that may be the case in some instances. In the past, it was often recreational users. “Until recently, the main issue was that the average drone operator was often unaware of where drones were permitted to fly — and where they were not,” Starreveld said.  “You buy one, and the average user suddenly calls themselves a ‘pilot’ to friends and family,” he added. “Curiosity and carelessness led to early interactions between drones and commercial aircraft.” Once the threat became clear, European regulators established new requirements and awareness campaigns to deal with unauthorized drones flying near runways and critical infrastructure. Manufacturers also introduced software restrictions to prevent drones from flying near airports. With those precautions in place, the drone problem should have abated, which is why Starreveld is very worried about the recent surge in sightings near airports. “What is new in recent incidents is that drones are apparently being used deliberately to disrupt air traffic,” he said. “For airline pilots, that idea alone places these recent encounters in a completely different and deeply worrying category: criminal intent.” WHEN DRONES HIT PLANES The drones pose a serious safety issue. JACDEC, a firm that provides safety analyses for commercial aviation, has recorded 25 cases of planes colliding with drones across the world over the past decade — none of which resulted in casualties. “Drone activity around civilian airspaces is dangerous. No matter if it was intentional or not,” said Jan-Arwed Richter, CEO of JACDEC.  “Airplanes are built to withstand smaller object collisions such as seagulls, doves, or hailstones. But modern professional drones can be way larger, heavier and contain a lot of heavy metal such as batteries,” he added. In case of collision, “these objects can render an engine inoperative or can cause a hole in a wing due to the high impact forces resulting from the high velocity at which a commercial jet is flying.” IMPACT ON AIR TRANSPORT The presence of drones is enough to affect air transport, as airports will limit flights for safety reasons. “Drone incidents, no matter where or when they take place, undoubtedly have an impact both on airports and airlines, disrupting passengers and burdening the sector with unforeseen costs,” said Ourania Georgoutsakou, managing director for the lobby Airlines for Europe. Because drones are small and hard to spot, some of these incidents are very difficult to verify. That was the case in December 2018, when London Gatwick Airport suffered a 33-hour disruption prompted by numerous drone sightings, which were never proven or photographed. Only between July and September 2024, SkeyDrone, a firm that monitors Brussels Airport’s airspace, detected 180 unauthorized drones close to runways and 84 in a more vulnerable “red zone.” However, none of the incidents caused a flight disruption. Munich Airport had to shut down on the night of Oct. 2 after several drones were spotted, causing 17 cancellations and 15 diversions. German air traffic control company DFS told POLITICO that the airport experienced eight other drone incursions in the first nine months of 2025. “Not every drone appearance is automatically a major security risk,” said Jan-Christoph Oetjen, a German member of the European Parliament from Renew Europe. “This topic is around for a while now and it got attention due to the geopolitical tensions,” he added.

Russia failed to win back its seat on the United Nations aviation agency’s governing council Saturday after staunch opposition from the EU over the invasion of Ukraine. A Russian official immediately called for “a repeat round of voting” after the country fell short of the support needed to gain a seat on the International Civil Aviation Organization’s 36-member council. Countries booted Russia off the ICAO Council in 2022 over the illegal confiscation of leased airplanes during the war with Ukraine. The ICAO Council also blamed Russia for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Russian-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine, killing 298 people. European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen had said ahead of Saturday’s vote that it was “unacceptable that a state which endangers the safety and security of air passengers and violates international rules should hold a seat on the organization’s governing body, tasked with upholding those very rules.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that Europe is facing a “pattern” of threats at its borders, after drones disrupted air travel in Denmark and Norway overnight. “Just spoke with PM Frederiksen regarding the drones incursion around Copenhagen airport,” von der Leyen said. “While the facts are still being established, it is clear we are witnessing a pattern of persistent contestation at our borders. Our critical infrastructure is at risk. And Europe will respond to this threat with strength & determination,” she added. Both Copenhagen and Oslo airports shut down late Monday night after drones were spotted in their airspace, forcing flights to be diverted or canceled and leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded. Earlier Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she “cannot rule out in any way that it is Russia” behind Monday night’s drone incident. “What we saw last night is the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date,” she told Danish media, adding that the “obvious” motive behind the attack was “to disrupt and create unrest. To cause concern. To see how far you can go and test the limits.” In recent weeks, Russia deployed drones over Poland and three Russian warplanes spent 12 minutes violating Estonian airspace before NATO jets diverted them.

BRUSSELS — The United States is trying to prevent Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Belarusian flag carrier Belavia from opening the floodgate for crucial aviation spare parts to reach Russia’s airlines. Although it will allow parts to be sold to Belavia, Washington is trying to block the carrier from flying to Russia — although such a limit may not be effective. The U.S.-Belarus deal was finalized Sept. 11 following the release of 52 political prisoners who had been detained by Minsk. The day after the announcement, however, the U.S. Department of Commerce wrote to Igor Nikolaevich Cherginets, the general director of Belavia, spelling out the conditions for regaining access to spare parts for its fleet of 16 aircraft, nine of which are Boeings. “This authorization does not permit flights to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, the Temporarily Occupied Crimea Region of Ukraine or the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic or Luhansk People’s Republic regions of Ukraine,” said the document, referring to the export of spare parts. The Belarusian airline did not immediately respond to a request for information from POLITICO regarding whether it will stop operating routes to and from Russia. However, on Sept. 15 Belavia announced a 50 percent discount on flights to St. Petersburg. The U.S. prohibition “is a pro forma note. There is no way to check what happens in [the] Russia+ customs union of which Belarus is a part,” said Elina Ribakova, leader of the international program at the Kyiv School of Economics and a fellow at the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank. Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque recently recalled that “EU sanctions on Belarus prohibit EU operators from providing services.” | Andrzej Iwanczuk/Getty Images “I see Belarus and Russia as fully cooperating states with fully porous borders,” she added. The risk that aircraft components manufactured in the U.S. might end up in the hands of Russian airlines — which are in dire need of maintenance and replacement parts following over three years of Western sanctions — has surged since Belarus announced that Washington was loosening sanctions on its flag carrier. EU-US RIFT The U.S. decision has also created a potential rift with the European Union. Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque recently recalled that “EU sanctions on Belarus prohibit EU operators from providing services, like maintenance, and from making any other economic resources available to listed persons or entities, including Belavia.”  EU countries “are responsible for implementation and enforcement of EU sanctions, including conducting investigations into potential non-compliance cases, including for sanctions circumvention,” Albuquerque added.  The discrepancy between European and American sanctions on Belavia raises questions as to whether EU countries should prevent U.S. spare parts from transiting through their territory en route to Belarus. The European Commission did not respond to a request for comment on the issue. According to Ribakova, EU countries “definitely could” stop aircraft technology destined for Belavia, but “the issue is how to identify the shipment.” U.S.-made aircraft technology “might be stopping over in Brussels in the direction of Moldova, but in reality goes somewhere else.” She also warned that the various national authorities responsible for enforcing sanctions could treat such shipments differently. BOYCOTT RISK Ultimately, it will be up to U.S. manufacturers, including Boeing, to decide whether to sell their products to Belavia. Both Boeing and Airbus were asked if they would resume selling parts to the Belarusian carrier. Ultimately, it will be up to U.S. manufacturers, including Boeing, to decide whether to sell their products to Belavia. | Nicolas Economou/Getty Images Airbus, which has production facilities in the U.S., responded by saying the company is “committed to conducting its business ethically and in full compliance with all applicable international laws and sanctions.” “As a global company with operations in Europe and the United States, Airbus adheres to the export control regulations and sanctions regimes of the EU, its Member States, the United States and other relevant jurisdictions,” it added, guaranteeing “a thorough review” before each transaction. Boeing did not respond to a request for comment.