Airbus set for deals in euros due to weak dollar

Dubai: The weak dollar is posing a big challenge for Airbus and the company is open to aircraft deals in euros or in a basket of currencies to offset the impact of the declining greenback on the European aircraft manufacturer's profits, a company official said on Sunday.

"The weak dollar is a huge challenge for us as the aviation industry trades in dollars and a lot of the world's manufacturers are based in the US," Airbus spokesman David Velupillai told Dow Jones Newswires at the Dubai air show.

A weak US dollar does not make the planes more expensive, but it does lower the company's profits since half of Airbus' costs are in euros, he said.

"We're open to selling our aircraft in euros or in a basket of currencies," Velupillai said. "We're also trying to cut down costs by placing our work force in dollar zones."