(GENEVA) - US aircraft manufacturer Boeing said Wednesday it was encouraged by statements by European transport ministers that any aid given to Airbus for its new A350 jet must be in line with WTO rules.

Ministers from the four Airbus countries -- Britain, France, Germany and Spain -- met Tuesday in Berlin to discuss financial aid for the new long-haul jet.

German Transport minister Peter Hintze said that any aid would have to be "compatible with World Trade Organisation and European Union rules."

Boeing, which has been locked in a long-running subsidy dispute with Airbus at the WTO, said these comments were a "step in the right direction.

"This statement at least acknowledges perhaps for the first time in 40 years that there is a set of disciplines that have to be adhered to," Boeing vice-president Ted Austell told reporters.

"In an ideal situation, we would hope that the EADS and Airbus enterprises would actually go into the market place to raise capital for the development of its new aircraft programmes," he added.

Airbus intends to launch the A350 in 2013 as a rival to Boeing's 787, which will come onto the market in 2009.

The European Union and the United States launched simultaneous cases at the WTO over subsidies for Boeing and Airbus in 2004, claiming that their competitors got an unfair advantage with state support for key projects.

Boeing said it expects the WTO to rule in its favour in the Airbus case in June or July, in the form of a first confidential report that will be given to the two parties.

Late last year, the EU claimed that US subsidies between 2004 and 2006 to Boeing had caused Airbus to lose 27 billion dollars (17 billion euros) of business and were illegal under world trade rules.

Washington countered that funds granted to Boeing by the US Department of Defense and space agency NASA were for services rendered.

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