Chillwinston
9th Feb 2004, 18:08
Two more low-cost airlines agreed to fly out of Belgium's Charleroi Airport on Friday, just days after Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said an EU ruling on subsidies at the airport spelled doom for the sector.
The Belgian region of Wallonia, which owns Charleroi, said two airlines serving destinations in Poland and Italy would start flights as early as next month, making them the airport's first scheduled routes not operated by Ryanair.
"I always said I didn't want [Charleroi] to be 'Ryanair airport'," Walloon Economics Minister Serge Kubla said. "It is dangerous just to have one customer."
European Union transport regulators this week said Ryanair would have to pay back up to four million euros (USD$5 million) in artificially low landing fees and other charges at the airport, ruling that Ryanair had received illegal subsidies from the region.
The Walloon government appears to have taken this on board -- Poland's Air Polonia and France's Axis Airways will get short-term help promoting their routes to Warsaw, Katowice and Pescara, but not the discounted landing fees given to Ryanair.
CHARLEROI BOUNCES BACK
Charleroi's chief executive, Laurent Jossart, said Ryanair's spat with the European Commission had helped put his airport -- 40 km south of Brussels -- on the map.
"The Commission action has given Charleroi a great image in the airline world," Jossart told a news conferenc in Namur, the capital of Belgium's Wallonia region.
Air Polonia would offer two flights a week to Poland's capital Warsaw and three flights to its base in the industrial city of Katowice, Kubla said.
Axis Airways would offer three flights a week to the Italian Adriatic Sea beach resort Pescara, possibly rising to one a day during the main summer season, Kubla added.
Kubla also said Charleroi was close to agreeing a deal with Anglo-Hungarian carrier Wizz Air to offer daily flights to Budapest.
Ryanair and Charleroi have both said they are likely to appeal the Commission's earlier verdict against them.
In the meantime, Kubla said he and Ryanair were working out an interim solution that would meet Commission rules, as well as calculating the precise repayment Ryanair owed. "I have to ask the Commission if we may have different prices [for different carriers] if we have different levels of traffic," he said.
(Reuters)
The Belgian region of Wallonia, which owns Charleroi, said two airlines serving destinations in Poland and Italy would start flights as early as next month, making them the airport's first scheduled routes not operated by Ryanair.
"I always said I didn't want [Charleroi] to be 'Ryanair airport'," Walloon Economics Minister Serge Kubla said. "It is dangerous just to have one customer."
European Union transport regulators this week said Ryanair would have to pay back up to four million euros (USD$5 million) in artificially low landing fees and other charges at the airport, ruling that Ryanair had received illegal subsidies from the region.
The Walloon government appears to have taken this on board -- Poland's Air Polonia and France's Axis Airways will get short-term help promoting their routes to Warsaw, Katowice and Pescara, but not the discounted landing fees given to Ryanair.
CHARLEROI BOUNCES BACK
Charleroi's chief executive, Laurent Jossart, said Ryanair's spat with the European Commission had helped put his airport -- 40 km south of Brussels -- on the map.
"The Commission action has given Charleroi a great image in the airline world," Jossart told a news conferenc in Namur, the capital of Belgium's Wallonia region.
Air Polonia would offer two flights a week to Poland's capital Warsaw and three flights to its base in the industrial city of Katowice, Kubla said.
Axis Airways would offer three flights a week to the Italian Adriatic Sea beach resort Pescara, possibly rising to one a day during the main summer season, Kubla added.
Kubla also said Charleroi was close to agreeing a deal with Anglo-Hungarian carrier Wizz Air to offer daily flights to Budapest.
Ryanair and Charleroi have both said they are likely to appeal the Commission's earlier verdict against them.
In the meantime, Kubla said he and Ryanair were working out an interim solution that would meet Commission rules, as well as calculating the precise repayment Ryanair owed. "I have to ask the Commission if we may have different prices [for different carriers] if we have different levels of traffic," he said.
(Reuters)