The Spanish Government has approved direct loans amounting to €359m ($521m) for subcontractors of the Airbus A350 long-haul passenger aircraft programme.

Spain has approved the loan for the programme, considering it to be a source of innovation and technology for the industry.

The government states that the subcontractors must be working on the A350 or the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines for the programme.

The loans will be either in form of advances repayable or zero interest. Repayment arrangements will depend the outcome of the project.

The A350 XWB aircraft has the capacity to fly up to 350 passengers a distance of 15,380km.

Airbus has allocated the development phase of the A350, approximately 11% of the work, to the Spanish industry.