Belgium ‘unclear’ on Ryanair payback

22 June 2004

BRUSSELS – The European Commission has given the Wallonian authorities until early July to provide details on how much illegal state aid they will seek to recover from Irish no-frills airline Ryanair, it was reported Tuesday.

The EU executive wrote to Wallonian authorities at the end of May, but the information it received in return was not clear enough on how authorities would calculate the amount of money it would seek to recover, a Commission spokesman said.

In February, the EU executive held that certain elements of Ryanair’s arrangements with Charleroi Airport amounted to illegal state aid and ordered the carier to pay back several million euros.

Ryanair appealed the decision last month to the Luxembourg-based European Court of First Instance, claiming the Commission’s ruling was flawed and places at risk “the very successful partnership between low-far airlines and regional airports.”

[Copyright Expatica 2004]

Subject : Belgian news