Budget airline AirAsia denies allegations it had any involvement in an endemic bribery scandal that resulted in European plane maker Airbus reaching a historic $4 billion settlement with prosecutors in the United States, United Kingdom, and France.
According to the “Statement of Facts” that accompanied announcement of the settlement Jan. 31, between July 2011 until June 2015, Airbus failed to prevent persons associated with Airbus from bribing others, “namely directors and/or employees” concerned with the purchase of aircraft by AirAsia and AirAsia X airlines. The court documents allege between October 2013 and January 2015, Airbus paid $50 million to sponsor a sports team that was jointly owned by two AirAsia executives in Malaysia “but was legally unrelated to AirAsia and AirAsia X.”
