EasyJet Dismisses Ryanair Claims Over Subsidies

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

20 November 2003

Budget airline, EasyJet has attempted to distance itself from one of its main competitors, Ryanair, which has been in dispute with the EC over subsidies offered to it by a regional Belgian airport, and suggested recently that EasyJet would likely be affected by an adverse ruling in the case.

Ryanair has benefited from an estimated £5 million per year in landing and handling charges, and marketing costs offered by the Walloon authorities in return for flying to Charleroi airport. Although the relationship appears to have been mutually beneficial, a complaint from a rival airport sparked an EC investigation into whether the subsidies constituted illegal state aid.

However, in a statement, EasyJet revealed that it does not operate in the same way as Ryanair.

"Our business model does not rely on the smaller publicly owned airports that Ryanair has made its bases in continental Europe," the airline explained, continuing:

"By contrast, EasyJet serves the major airports in the major cities and, while we negotiate excellent deals at these airports, we only aim for long term sustainable deals which provide shareholder value for both the airline and the airport."

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