BAE Systems is to raise more than £3 billion by selling its 20 per cent stake in Airbus to EADS, the Franco-German defence company which already owns 80 per cent of the aircraft maker.

Mike Turner, chief executive of BAE Systems, is understood to be meeting Alan Johnson, the Trade and Industry Secretary, today to confirm his intention to sell after the board made the decision at a meeting on Wednesday.

The proceeds from the sale could be used for further acquisition opportunities in the US, the world’s biggest defence market, in which BAE Systems is now a major player.

However, BAE’s decision to sell is potentially embarrassing for the Government, which has pumped hundreds of millions of pounds of launch aid into Airbus, risking a trade war with the US.

Six months ago Mr Johnson agreed a new tranche of launch aid for the aircraft maker’s latest model, the A350, and it is less than a year since the Prime Minister and the Chancellor were filmed at Airbus’s Broughton factory in North Wales at the start of last year’s general election campaign.

The sale also raised initial question marks over 13,000 manufacturing jobs in Britain amid concerns that EADS would prefer to move jobs to countries with lower production costs in years to come.

Union leaders have already called for talks with BAE management over the securitiy of jobs and today stepped up their interest now the sale looks likely to go ahead.

But BAE maintained this morning that no jobs were at risk. It pointed out that the employer of the 13,000 staff in Britain is actually Airbus itself.

Although they accepted BAE's assurances, union leaders remained unconvinced over the reasoning for the sale. Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, said: “The reasons behind this decision must be clarified. Airbus is clearly a strategic manufacturing company, providing first-class skills, levels of investment and jobs at Filton and Broughton."

Mr Barber added that: “For BAE to sell their stake at this stage smacks of the short-termism that cripples UK industry. We welcome the statement that none of the 13,000 jobs are at risk and look forward to that promise being kept.”

EADS employs 17,000 workers in the UK, of which 13,000 work in Airbus factories. A further 135,000 jobs in the supply chain depend on the company.

Andy Richards, regional secretary at the Transport & General Workers Union, insisted talk of job losses was ill-founded and said it was "business as usual" at Airbus's Broughton site in North Wales this morning.

But he added: "There are issues we would want to address in terms of the longer term including how investment decisions will be made. Aerospace is a skilled and strategic UK industry in which Wales has played a leading role. The T&G believes it is also an industry of the future."

EADS recently valued BAE’s Airbus stake at €3.5 billion (£2.4 billion) for international accounting purposes. However, people close to the company think that this is a conservative valuation and a sale could raise considerably more for the British defence group.

BAE confirmed this morning that it had gone into talks with EADS over the prospective sale, although it cautioned that discussions were at an early stage. It said it would make a further statement when and if appropriate.

Shares in BAE Systems lost 6.75p - or more than 1.5 per cent - to 424.25p this morning as analysts tried to digest the rationale for the sale of a stake in an increasingly profitable company.

EADS is keen to consolidate its Airbus operation, maker of the A380 super-jumbo, and has had a put option over BAE Systems’ stake since the aircraft maker was established as an independent corporate entity in 2001. It is understood that four banks will be asked to value the stake before a final decision on the price is reached.

A spokesman for EADS told The Times last night ahead of today's confirmation: "We have had no official word from BAE. But our position has always been that we would be interested in buying the stake if it became available."

One of the reasons for the sale is thought to be the rising research and development costs related to Airbus’s planned freighter version of the A380 and its A400M military transport aircraft.

Industry watchers have always suspected that BAE Systems would try to sell just before the peak of the civil aviation cycle. Last year was a record year for aircraft orders for both Airbus and its rival Boeing.

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Q&A: What does the sale mean?

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