Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy is being investigated for alleged "insider trading" by French authorities, local media reported on Friday.

The senior Airbus officer, a US citizen, was placed under investigation on November 5, and is suspected to have received privileged information about the financial prospects of Airbus, which linked with the significant delay of super-jumbo A380 in 2006.

The announcement of A380 delay was followed by a plunge in Airbus share prices by 26 percent in June 2006.

Before the share price drop, Leahy, one of the few non- Europeans in Airbus high-level, sold 260,000 shares for 3.1 million euros (US$4.1 million) while exercising his options in EADS, Airbus' parent company, according to a report by French stock market supervisor Autorite des Marches Financiers.

When called by Xinhua for comment on the case, Pierre Bayle, the communication director of EADS said he couldn't give more information because he himself heard of the news but now.

If convicted, 60-year-old Leahy will face two years in prison and heavy fine proportional to his gain from the sale of EADS shares, local media reported.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2010)