Originally Posted by
runway30
No loans have been made to flybe. The Welsh Government, as shareholder, made a loan to Cardiff Airport. Cardiff Airport has entered into a commercial agreement with flybe, as they could have done with any other airline that wants to fly from Cardiff.
Even if one accepts this, there are two questions:
- Can it be shown (as El Bunto says) that a market economy investor (a private investor interested only in getting a return on his investment, and not caring about broader social, societal or economic impact) would reasonably have made a similar loan on similar terms?
- And can it be shown that the deal that CWL has made with flybe delivers incremental profitability for the airport?
If both answers are "yes", then all is well. All the same, I can't help feeling that the European Commission may be asked to consider this at some point (possibly via a letter with a BS48 postmark among others
)