Airbus has agreed to pay £6.4m to HM Revenue and Customs after admitting breaches of UK rules governing the export and transfer of controlled technology. The settlement, reached after the company self-reported conduct occurring before November 2022, underlines the importance of compliance in a sector where technology may have military or weapons-related uses.

HMRC said Airbus failed over a sustained period to maintain required records and registers under several Open General Export Licences, and also breached conditions of a Standard Individual Export Licence. The payment is HMRC’s largest out-of-court settlement for strategic export offences, more than ten times the £569,100 paid by a Petrofac division last month for Russia sanctions breaches; Airbus said it cooperated and introduced remedial measures.