Ryanair has stressed that its arrangements with airports in Europe are “arms length commercial deals” after being cleared of breaching EU state aid rules in all but one case.
The European Commission confirmed that the low-cost carrier’s agreements at Brussels Charleroi, Frankfurt Hahn, Alghero and Stockholm Vasteras airports comply with the ‘market economy investor principle’ and do not infringe EU state aid rules.
However, the commission suggested that an agreement at Zweibrücken airport in Germany did not comply with state aid rules.
Ryanair withdrew services from the airport in 2009 having carried just 50,000 passengers.
The carrier said it noted the commission’s decision concerning Zweibrücken and has instructed its lawyers to appeal the ruling.
The Charleroi finding affirms an EU court ruling in December 2008 and brings to an end a long-running case which the commission first considered in 1999, the airline said.
“Today’s rulings are consistent with the EU Commission’s previous confirmation that Ryanair’s airport agreements with Aarhus, Bratislava, Marseille, Niederrhein, Berlin Schönefeld and Tampere airports also comply with EU state aid rules.”
Ryanair legal director Juliusz Komorek said: “Today’s decisions confirm that Ryanair’s airport agreements at Charleroi, Hahn, Alghero and Vasteras airports comply with the market economy investor principle and involve no state aid.
“This follows seven earlier positive decisions at Aarhus, Bratislava, Charleroi in 2008, Marseille, Niederrhein, Berlin Schönefeld and Tampere airports.
“Ryanair has to date carried over 136 million passengers at the 10 airports where our commercial arrangements have been confirmed by the EU Commission and the EU Court to comply with EU law, compared to just 50,000 passengers at Zweibrücken airport where the commission today suggested that the airport agreement did not comply with state aid rules.
“We remain committed to growing traffic from the current 87 million passengers per annum to over 150 million passenger per annum by 2024, in partnership with both private and public airports across Europe where all of our arrangements are arms-length commercial deals consistent with the EU market economy investor principle.”