Airbus' problem du jour: Jumbo price hike

TOULOUSE, France, June 23 (UPI) -- France's Airbus SA is raising the price of its flagship A380 superjumbo jet to as much as $316 million each.

News of the 4.7-percent price hike follows a cascade of production, marketing and legal turbulence at the aeronautial giant that is owned by European Aeronautic Space & Defence Co., an entity owned 15 percent by Germany and 15 percent by France, the BBC reported Friday.

Airbus officials said the price hike was routine, but comes after seven days of bad news: Airbus' third A380 delivery delay; a resulting 26-percent drop in EADS share price; cancelled Airbus orders worth billions; customer demands for penalty payments worth hundreds of millions; other customer demands for "loaner" planes; Airbus appeals for fresh European government subsidies; and multinational criminal probes of alleged insider trading by Airbus executives who made millions selling EADS shares shortly before news of the latest production glitch.

Of particular concern to investors is the dual German-French leadership structure of EADS, which has two chief executives.

France's defense minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, said investors need to address the firm's structural problems.

"The situation ... is incontestable," she said.