Karlheinz Schreiber makes his way down a hallway on Monday as he arrives at the Oliphant commission in Ottawa for his first day of testimony. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)A page from Karlheinz Schreiber's 1988 daily planner, made public on Tuesday by the Oliphant commission, contains an entry referring to then-German chancellor Helmut Kohl, then-prime minister Brian Mulroney and Airbus Industrie, ABI.

Schreiber completed the first day of a weeklong examination at the Oliphant inquiry on Monday, but has yet to be asked about a particular notation he made on May 25, 1988 — "Kohl-ABI-Brian."

For years, the former prime minister has denied any involvement in Air Canada's decision to purchase 34 Airbus aircraft in 1988. He received a $2.1 million settlement after his name was publicly mentioned in connection with a 1995 investigation into the sale.

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has said he received cash payments from Schreiber after he left office in June 1993. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)The daily planner entry, in Schreiber's handwriting, appears to suggest that the Airbus middleman believed that Kohl and Mulroney would be discussing Airbus.

At the time, Mulroney was on a business trip to Europe, with newspapers reporting the two leaders had met in the German city of Bonn to discuss agricultural subsidies.

The May 1988 notation comes at a crucial time in the chronology of the acquisition of 34 Airbus aircraft in 1988.

On March 30, 1988, the Air Canada board of directors approved the airline's recommendation that it purchase the A320 jets over rival Boeing's 727s.

It would be another three months before the Mulroney government formally announced its required approval of the purchase in July of 1988.

The entry also includes the name Erich Riedl, a German parliamentarian who, Schreiber says, was involved in co-ordinating industrial benefits between Airbus and Quebec-based Bombardier.

In 1995 Mulroney's lawyer, Harvey Yarosky, told reporters Mulroney "categorically and unequivocally states he had absolutely nothing to do with Air Canada's decision to buy Airbus, nor did he receive a cent from anyone.

"He was not part of any conspiracy whatsoever, in any shape or form," Yarosky said at the time.

The inquiry, headed by Justice Jeffrey Oliphant, is delving into the business dealings between Mulroney and Schreiber, who is facing extradition to Germany on a number of tax, bribery and fraud charges.