Airbus downplays concerns of hard Brexit after conference call with ministers

The chief executive of European planemaker Airbus said on Wednesday British ministers had expressed a "certain degree of optimism" that Britain would not leave the European Union without a transition deal. Airbus was among companies represented on a conference call between business leaders and British ministers late on Tuesday after the government lost a vote in parliament on Prime Minister Theresa May's plans for an exit deal.

Asked in the United States whether businesses had received assurances that Britain would not leave the EU without a deal, Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said, "I would not say assurances, but I would say ministers have expressed a certain degree of optimism that a no-deal Brexit would not happen."

(With inputs from agencies.)