Britain has made an offer of financial assistance to Airbus to help develop the A350 long-haul passenger jet, Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson said Tuesday but gave no details.

"We've made an offer," Mandelson told a parliamentary committee here when quizzed by lawmakers about whether the government would contribute.

"We are negotiating with EADS, Airbus, and I think the offer we have made is proportionate to the work we can expect being undertaken in this country."

French newspaper La Tribune reported earlier this week, without citing its sources, that Britain favoured a 500-million-euro (699-million-dollar) loan to help financing the Airbus A350 development.

A spokesman for Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, indicated that the figure was within the right area.

Airbus is a division of aerospace giant European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS).