A spokesman for EADS, the Airbus parent company, declined to comment on the report, carried in the financial newspaper La Tribune.
"There are currently discussions on the cancellation of the contract for the A400M between the two parties," he said.
The Tribune report said that the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company was "seriously considering cancelling most of the orders that have already been signed, worth about 400 million euros , in the framework of a partnership with (South African) industry (notably with the Denel and Aerosud groups) and which were linked to the contract to purchase eight A400Ms."
EADS was also reported to have asked missile maker MBDA, in which it has a 37.5-percent stake, to freeze discussions with Denel. MBDA, seeking a stake of 51 percent in Denel, has been in talks with the South African company for the past two years.
Earlier this month, South Africa said it had cancelled its order for eight A400M military transporters, citing cost escalations. It was a fresh blow to the A400M program, already three years behind schedule.
South Africa has also asked EADS to reimburse it 250-300 million euros that it had paid as an advance.
However, spokesman for Airbus, Sub-Sahara Africa, Linden Birns, said: “There are currently no plans to withdraw work packages from South Africa. Airbus enjoys strong and valuable partnerships with South Africa and its suppliers in the local aerospace industry. At the same time, Airbus is strengthening its ties with South African academia and research institutes, several of which are engaged in Airbus’ global Research & Technology programme to identify and develop new technologies for eco-efficient aircraft.”
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