an-124
26th May 2004, 13:22
Any repercussions on this?
Surely the Belgian eastablishment cannot ask for all subsidies back after 3 years of support??? Well obviously Mr O'leary thinks it is ludicrous by addressing it with his "unique" style of diplomacy.
Article can be found at the following link but I have included it below.
http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=040526000810&query=ryanair&vsc_appId=totalSearch&state=Form
FRONT PAGE - FIRST SECTION: Ryanair refuses to repay €3m state aid
By Kevin Done, Aerospace Correspondent
Financial Times; May 26, 2004
Ryanair is refusing to pay back alleged state subsidies arising from the low-cost carrier's operations at Belgium's Charleroi airport.
Michael O'Leary, Ryanair chief executive, said the Belgian authorities had written to the airline demanding the repayment of about €3m (£2m).
"We have written back to say '**** off'," he said yesterday.
He said Ryanair had incurred costs eight times higher in setting up its base at Charleroi and that the airline had the right to offset these costs against the alleged subsidies.
Ryanair yesterday formally launched its appeal against the decision of the European Commission, announced in February, that various benefits it had received at Charleroi, south of Brussels, constituted illegal state aid.
Ryanair said it was asking the European Court of First Instance to annul the Commission's "flawed decision".
Under the state aid rules, a public airport must be able to compete on a level playing-field with private airports and offer the same conditions, said the airline. Charleroi airport, which became Ryanair's first base in continental Europe in April 2001, is owned by the regional government of Wallonia.
The airline claimed that the Commission had "completely ignored" the fact that the airline had lower cost deals at some private airports.
In addition, the group claimed that the Commission had ignored the fact that the deal was "specifically offered to other airlines willing to make the same investment in the airport as Ryanair".
Ryanair said last month it had struck a new deal with Charleroi, which would leave net charges on existing routes from the airport at the same level that first triggered the state aid investigation by the Commission more than two years ago.
Surely the Belgian eastablishment cannot ask for all subsidies back after 3 years of support??? Well obviously Mr O'leary thinks it is ludicrous by addressing it with his "unique" style of diplomacy.
Article can be found at the following link but I have included it below.
http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=040526000810&query=ryanair&vsc_appId=totalSearch&state=Form
FRONT PAGE - FIRST SECTION: Ryanair refuses to repay €3m state aid
By Kevin Done, Aerospace Correspondent
Financial Times; May 26, 2004
Ryanair is refusing to pay back alleged state subsidies arising from the low-cost carrier's operations at Belgium's Charleroi airport.
Michael O'Leary, Ryanair chief executive, said the Belgian authorities had written to the airline demanding the repayment of about €3m (£2m).
"We have written back to say '**** off'," he said yesterday.
He said Ryanair had incurred costs eight times higher in setting up its base at Charleroi and that the airline had the right to offset these costs against the alleged subsidies.
Ryanair yesterday formally launched its appeal against the decision of the European Commission, announced in February, that various benefits it had received at Charleroi, south of Brussels, constituted illegal state aid.
Ryanair said it was asking the European Court of First Instance to annul the Commission's "flawed decision".
Under the state aid rules, a public airport must be able to compete on a level playing-field with private airports and offer the same conditions, said the airline. Charleroi airport, which became Ryanair's first base in continental Europe in April 2001, is owned by the regional government of Wallonia.
The airline claimed that the Commission had "completely ignored" the fact that the airline had lower cost deals at some private airports.
In addition, the group claimed that the Commission had ignored the fact that the deal was "specifically offered to other airlines willing to make the same investment in the airport as Ryanair".
Ryanair said last month it had struck a new deal with Charleroi, which would leave net charges on existing routes from the airport at the same level that first triggered the state aid investigation by the Commission more than two years ago.