Paris - European aerospace giant EADS has expanded its Power 8 cost-saving programme to counteract the weakness of the dollar against the euro, the French daily Le Monde reported Tuesday.

Unlike the original plan, which was created in response to losses suffered by the EADS subsidiary Airbus because of problems with its A 380 superjumbo, the new "Power
8 plus" programme involves the entire company and is to save it 1 billion euros (1.41 billion dollars) beginning in 2010.

Of that amount, savings at Airbus will total about 650 million euros, while measures involving EADS headquarters, the Eurocopter subsidiary and the space and military transport divisions will account for 350 million euros.

A large part of the savings at Airbus are to be achieved by moving production to "US dollar zones" or where labour is less expensive than in Europe.

EADS chief Louis Gallois told Le Monde that one Airbus factory is to be built in Tunisia. In addition, Airbus will also produce in China "because of the proximity of the market," and expand its presence in India.

Investors responded positively to the news, with EADS shares up by 2.7 per cent, at 15.61 euros, in late afternoon trading on the Paris Bourse. (dpa)