The European Commission has confirmed that it received a complaint over the Stormont Executive’s support for a United airlines route from Belfast to New York.
A statement from the Commission said: “EU state aid rules in the aviation sector allow public authorities to grant support to improve the accessibility of a region and to meet citizens' transport needs.
“However, those rules do not allow public authorities to grant a specific airline an undue advantage to the detriment of competing airlines and distorting competition in the Single Market.
“The Commission takes note of the fact that the Northern Irish authorities and United Airlines have decided to end a recent arrangement, according to which United Airlines would receive financial support for continuing to operate its Belfast-New York route.
“Such support can raise concerns under EU state aid rules, because United Airlines competes directly on transatlantic routes with other carriers and airports compete for traffic on those routes.
“The arrangement was put in place without prior notification to the Commission under EU State aid rules. The Commission received a complaint alleging that the measure was in breach of EU rules and looked into the matter. The United Airlines announcement allows the Commission to close the case.”
Complaint was made to European body over Stormont NY route support | UTV - ITV News