Ryanair is awaiting the outcome of 14 other European Commission investigations into claims it is receiving illegal state aid from some of its airports following a ruling that it must repay almost €10 million financial support to France.
Brussels is stepping up an investigation into Ryanair’s agreements with an Austrian airport, which it says appear to “excessively” favour the airline.
The European Commission yesterday ordered Ryanair to repay €9.6 million in illegal state aid it had received from three French airports, Nîmes, Pau and Angoulême, after an investigation found that supports such as contractual rebates and marketing deals gave it an unfair advantage over rivals.
The commission's competition directorate cleared supports given by two local authorities to Niederrhein Airport in Germany – where Ryanair is the biggest customer – on the grounds that they either involved no aid or complied with EU rules.
Ryanair said it plans to appeal the “erroneous” rulings in relation to the three French airports. It no longer serves either Angoulême or Pau. It welcomed the directorate’s conclusions on Niederrhein, which it pointed out was in line with commission and European Court rulings in relation to agreements it has with six other airports in other member states.
State aid investigations
The airline is awaiting the outcome of 14 other similar state aid investigations into arrangements it has with airports in the EU. The commission originally began 24 such probes involving the airline, mainly after complaints from rivals that its agreements breached state aid rules.
The commission said it is also stepping up its investigation into deals between Ryanair and Austria’s Klagenfurt airport. That inquiry is focused on an airport service agreement and a marketing deal between the Irish carrier and the airport’s owner KFBG.
The commission yesterday said it seriously doubted that either contract, both dating back to 2002, was agreed on market terms as each appeared to be “excessively favourable” to Ryanair.The airline’s director of legal and regulatory affairs said all its airport arrangements comply with EU state aid rules.
