Strasbourg appeal over Ryanair subsidies

STRASBOURG, Feb 12 (AFP) – The Strasbourg Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it was appealing a regional administrative court’s decision forbidding aid to Irish low-cost airline Ryanair.

An official with the Chamber of Commerce said it was appealing to the State Council, France’s highest administrative court, as a “precaution” because it was necessary to exhaust all options within the French justice system before turning to the European Court of Justice.

In December, an administrative court in the eastern French city of Nancy upheld a lower court’s decision in July barring subsidies from the Chamber of Commerce to Ryanair to support the budget carrier’s Strasbourg-London service.

International passenger traffic at Strasbourg-Entzheim airport plunged following Ryanair’s departure in September after the July decision.In France most regional airports are under the management of local chambers of commerce, themselves statutory bodies

Last week the European Commission, citing breach of EU competition rules, ordered Ryanair to repay some of the millions of euros in subsidies it received from Belgium’s Charleroi airport as part of a sweetener deal to set up there.

© AFP

                                                              Subject: France news