Ryanair told to repay airport aid by EU
European Union regulators have ordered three airlines, including Ryanair, Germanwings and TUIfly, to repay illegal subsidies they received from Germany’s Zweibruecken airport in the form of lower fees.
Ryanair Holdings (CDI)
€14.41
17:14 17/12/21
According to a statement released on Wednesday, the EU Germanwings must pay €1.2m (£0.9m), Ryanair €0.5m and TUIfly €0.2m, while Brussels Airlines NV, a Lufthansa affiliate, faces a separate inquiry.
“Duplicating unprofitable airport infrastructure or unduly favoring certain airlines wastes taxpayers’ money and distorts competition,” Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s antitrust chief, said.
Subsidies to a number of regional airports across Europe that may have benefited Ryanair and other low cost airlines have been subject to an EU inquiry, as the European Commission must give its approval to state subsidies to airports and airlines.
Zweibruecken is located 40km (25 miles) from Saarbrucecken airport, which has prompted the commission to describe the financial aid to the airport as “a waste of public money”.
TUIfly spokesman Jan Hillrichs said the funds were used to promote Zweibruecken airport and the airline’s services in the region, as stipulated by the contract, while Germanwings spokesman Heinz-Joachim Schoettes said the group would examine the verdict before making any further comments.
The EU added that Meridiana Fly and Germanwings must also refund aid that was granted to them by Alghero airport in Sardinia.
In a separate report, the EU also ordered Belgium’s Charleroi airport to repay €6m, bringing a 12-year-long inquiry into aid for Ryanair to implement routes at the airport to an end.
The EU said that the aid was justified, given Ryanair had helped the area’s economic growth and the Dublin-based airline had not received subsidies at in Charleroi, Germany’s Saarbruecken, Frankfurt-Hahn and Sweden’s Vasteras airports because it paid above-cost prices for fees.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Irish airline said its agreements with the four airports did not involve illegal state aid and it had stopped flying from Zweibruecken in 2009.
Ryanair shares were down 2.48% to €7.36 at 16:28 on Wednesday.