"Airbus would be well advised not to fall back into past mistakes and to contribute to clearing up the allegations with more seriousness and less emotion," a spokesman for the defence minister said.

Earlier, Airbus Chief Executive Thomas Enders described an Austrian fraud investigation as "politically-motivated abuse of the legal system" after Vienna investigators disclosed an investigation against him on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Shadia Nasralla)