FILE PHOTO: Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders waits to visit final assembly line at Airbus headquarters in Blagnac near Toulouse, France March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus AIR.PA chief executive Tom Enders gave his backing to the latest Brexit position set out by British Prime Minister Theresa May, softening criticism made on Friday when he had stated May's government had "no clue" over the process.

“The Chequers statement appears to show that HM Government are going in the right direction. We are not shy to request that Brussels and our other home countries are similarly pragmatic and fair,” said Enders on Airbus’ official Twitter account.

After an hours-long meeting last week at her Chequers country residence, May seemed to have persuaded the most vocal Brexit campaigners in the cabinet to back her plan to press for “a free trade area for goods” with the EU and maintain close trade ties.

However, Boris Johnson and David Davis resigned from their respective posts as foreign minister and Brexit negotiator in protest at May’s plans to keep close trade ties with the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc.