European aerospace giant EADS is demanding another 6.4 billion euros ($9 billion) from client countries to cover the rising cost of the Airbus A400M military plane.
The figure is more than three times higher than the two billion euros the seven client nations are willing to pay to get the long-delayed project off the ground, the Bundestag lower house of parliament said in a statement.

Berlin nevertheless expects a deal to be reached "next week or the week after," albeit after an initial deadline of January 31.

Three crisis meetings this month have failed to produce a breakthrough.

Seven countries have ordered 180 of the aircraft for 20 billion euros ($28 billion) from European plane maker Airbus but the project is three years behind schedule and a reported 11 billion euros over budget.

Airbus has threatened to pull the plug unless the seven - Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey - stump up more cash, warning that the fate of the European aerospace giant depended on the project.

Airbus has 52,000 employees around Europe, with about 10,000 working on the A400M, a state-of-the-art new aircraft that can carry troops, armored vehicles and helicopters and would replace Europe's ageing fleet of transport planes.