Ryanair Subsidies Ruled Illegal In France
Low cost airline, Ryanair was angered on Thursday by a French appeals court's
decision to uphold an earlier ruling against it, which stated that subsidies
paid by the Strasbourg Chamber of Commerce to the airline represented unfair
aid, and a misuse of public money. The earlier decision followed a complaint by BritAir, a subsidiary of Air France,
which objected to the fact that the Strasbourg Chamber was paying Ryanair in
the region of 560,000 euros per year to promote its services and website. In
return for this, Ryanair agreed to fly to Strasbourg, a move which substantially
boosted the regional economy. Speaking to the European media, Ryanair chief executive, Michael O'Leary pledged
to appeal the case in the European courts, announcing that: "Ryanair is committed to restoring its low-fares Strasbourg to London
service and will be appealing this decision, if necessary all the way throught
the French courts and to the European Court in Luxembourg itself." "We are confident that the European courts will in time recognise the
benefits for consumers and the regions of low-cost air travel between Strasbourg
and London." The airline is currently awaiting an European Commission judgement on whether
aid granted to it by Belgium's Charleroi airport constituted illegal state aid.
A decision is expected next month. .
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