EADS is thought to be poised to give the green light to the €10 billion (£6.7bn) Airbus A350XWB airliner programme as early as today.

The go-ahead for the project was delayed last week after the French government blocked a proposal from parent company EADS’s two major industrial shareholders, Lagardère and DaimlerChrysler, to tap the capital markets and new institutional investors to raise funds for the venture.

Instead, France wanted to inflate EADS’s capital base by raising its own stake in the Airbus parent company, an idea opposed by fellow investors.

The setback was a blow for Louis Gallois, the new Airbus chief executive. The A350 go-ahead would have marked the first big decision made by him in the job.

With the troubled A380 superjumbo crisis wiping €4.8 billion off EADS’s profits over the next four years, the group is struggling to finance the A350 without relying entirely on state loans.

A number of reports today suggested the impasse was "90 per cent" overcome, although France’s Les Echos said the outcome of today’s board meeting was still uncertain.

Reuters reported one source close to the EADS board as saying: "There are two outstanding issues: state aid and the German position, but the hardest bits were dealt with yesterday."

It was reported in the Financial Times this morning that Airbus backers France, Germany, Britain and Spain have agreed to guarantee €4 billion euros in external financing. A further €6 billion of development funds would be raised by EADS, possibly through the issue of hybrid debt.

The French government and French media group Lagardère together control 22.5 per cent of EADS. DaimlerChrysler owns another 22.5 per cent but is seeking to sell down its holding.

This summer Airbus revealed that the cost of developing a rival to Boeing's 787 had doubled after its original plans met a lukewarm reception from prospective customers.

A redesign will now see Airbus scrap a fuselage it has used for decades to offer three wider-body variations of A350 – rather than the two originally planned. The revisions saw the cost of the A350 soar.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive