Boeing scores over rival Airbus as WTO reverses ruling over state aid

US aircraft manufacturer Boeing scored over  European rival Airbus in a long-running battle, which ended with the World Trade Organization reversing an appeal on a ruling that Boeing received some state aid to help build its newest aircraft, the 777X.

"The WTO has rejected yet another of the baseless claims the European Union has made," Boeing said in a statement.

However, according to Airbus ?"the 'game' is far from over" as other complaints over alleged aid have not yet been settled.

The standoff between the two aviation giants involves a sprawling set of disputes at the Geneva-based WTO.

Last year, the WTO backed a EU complaint that Boeing got tax breaks for a production facility in Washington state.

The US, which acted on behalf of Boeing, appealed the decision and secured an outright victory that is not subject to further appeal, according to the WTO ruling.

Airbus claimed Washington state has given Boeing tax breaks worth about $9 billion which were sufficient to shut out imports.

However, according to Boeing, the tax breaks amounted to no more than $1 billion.

According to the WTO's appeals body, the tax breaks were not explicitly to prevent free trade, removing them from its most severe category of banned aid called "prohibited" subsidies.

The decision, yesterday, by the World Trade Organization's appellate body upturns a ruling by a lower WTO panel in November that said that Washington state, which is home to much of Boeing's plane manufacturing operations had provided prohibited subsidies through a tax incentive for production of the Boeing 777X.