French shareholders in aerospace group EADS say they have launched a class action lawsuit against the firm.The Association of Active Shareholders said they had filed the action in the Netherlands, where the pan-European company is registered.

The suit centres on a dramatic slide in the value of EADS shares in June, after reports of delays to production at the firm’s Airbus planemaking division.

It comes as Airbus revealed orders of 117 planes in the first half of 2006.

That was down from 276 in the same period last a year earlier. However in its statement, Airbus also reported deliveries of 219 aircraft.

‘Disastrous consequences’

Class action lawsuits are currently forbidden in France.

Pioneered in the US, they allow one person to take legal action on behalf of others in a similar position.

But recent reports have suggested that the French government is considering introducing legislation that will permit similar collective legal action.

The French shareholders association said investors had been misled by financial comments from EADS, after the company discovered serious bottlenecks to production of the Airbus A380 superjumbo.

The suit, filed at a court in Haarlem, alleges that the situation had “disastrous financial consequences” for shareholders.

Shares in EADS, which has joint headquarters in Paris and Munich, slumped by 26% on 14 June following news of production delays to the A380.

Problems with the manufacture of the Airbus jet were compounded by an insider trading scandal, which eventually led to the resignation of EADS co-chief executive Noel Forgeard.

Shares in EADS were quoted down almost 2% at 21.27 euros in morning trade in Paris on Monday.