BigFrank
18th Oct 2011, 15:18
That often seems the case.
The following machine translation of an article in El País about 10 days ago does add some numerical substance to the general impression. The new airport in Lleida (Lerida) does seem to take the biscuit though other reports highlight Asturias and Ciudad Real as even worse !
At least Air Nostrum is only leeching the Spanish government whereas O`Leary´s mob have it down to a fine art EU-wide.
Interesting that they admit publicly near the end that it is often illegal. Sounds more than a bit like the system whereby Greece passed its test to meet the Euro-criteria. And look at how that scam has ended up.
They feed the airlines and the secondary airports with public money? The national competition Commission (CNC) yesterday issued a report that tracks the capital from public coffers just in the hands of airlines in the form of "aid to the tourism promotion" or "marketing". In Spain, between 2007 and 2011, administrations contributed EUR 247 million. Catalonia spent in Girona, Reus and Lleida 17.3 million over five years, without counting capital injections to Spanair, which the CNC has ignored.
The airlines more public money being Spain are Lagunair, Vueling, Air Nostrum and Ryanair. Spanair, financed with public money in Catalan and in which the Government has injected 85 million into a participatory credit, appears at the end of the list. According to a spokesman for the company, the study shows that the CNC coincides with the version that Spanair always defends: "we are not aid, are investment and is not negative". Aid to the airlines have received tourist or commercial promotion in Catalonia, of 17.3 million over five years, are reduced when compared with 84 million disbursed by Castilla y León and the 34 million of Aragon in five years. In addition, if as does the national competition Commission, compared with the number of people that circulate through airports are reduced to 25 cents per passenger in 2011, with the 132 euros per passenger of Castilla - La Mancha, Spain.
Vueling, the fourth company with more aid in Spain according to the study, said yesterday his chagrin because CNC has not taken into account the public contributions to Spanair, Vueling's President, Josep Piqué, has repeatedly labeled an "unjustifiable" grants.
Subsidies received by Catalan airports, among especially those of the Lleida-Alguaire: 3.2 million in just two years. In the year of 2011, the airfield has barely registered flights (now only Airnostrum operates two transfers per week), but has received 2.1 million in aid.
The CNC reserved for Catalonia nearly two pages of its conclusions. The cited as an example of "economic benefits" offered to companies, such as "assignment of land adjacent to the airport" [in reference to the offers made to Ryanair] or "discounts on airport charges" that makes that companies can operate "virtually at zero cost". For the CNC, some measures could not meet European standards, but points out, affair is not judge it. Even so, the Agency recommends that aid, if they exist, are temporary, channeled by public and supervised competitions.
One question (amongst many): What happens when this particular tap is switched off ? This year ? Next year ?
The following machine translation of an article in El País about 10 days ago does add some numerical substance to the general impression. The new airport in Lleida (Lerida) does seem to take the biscuit though other reports highlight Asturias and Ciudad Real as even worse !
At least Air Nostrum is only leeching the Spanish government whereas O`Leary´s mob have it down to a fine art EU-wide.
Interesting that they admit publicly near the end that it is often illegal. Sounds more than a bit like the system whereby Greece passed its test to meet the Euro-criteria. And look at how that scam has ended up.
They feed the airlines and the secondary airports with public money? The national competition Commission (CNC) yesterday issued a report that tracks the capital from public coffers just in the hands of airlines in the form of "aid to the tourism promotion" or "marketing". In Spain, between 2007 and 2011, administrations contributed EUR 247 million. Catalonia spent in Girona, Reus and Lleida 17.3 million over five years, without counting capital injections to Spanair, which the CNC has ignored.
The airlines more public money being Spain are Lagunair, Vueling, Air Nostrum and Ryanair. Spanair, financed with public money in Catalan and in which the Government has injected 85 million into a participatory credit, appears at the end of the list. According to a spokesman for the company, the study shows that the CNC coincides with the version that Spanair always defends: "we are not aid, are investment and is not negative". Aid to the airlines have received tourist or commercial promotion in Catalonia, of 17.3 million over five years, are reduced when compared with 84 million disbursed by Castilla y León and the 34 million of Aragon in five years. In addition, if as does the national competition Commission, compared with the number of people that circulate through airports are reduced to 25 cents per passenger in 2011, with the 132 euros per passenger of Castilla - La Mancha, Spain.
Vueling, the fourth company with more aid in Spain according to the study, said yesterday his chagrin because CNC has not taken into account the public contributions to Spanair, Vueling's President, Josep Piqué, has repeatedly labeled an "unjustifiable" grants.
Subsidies received by Catalan airports, among especially those of the Lleida-Alguaire: 3.2 million in just two years. In the year of 2011, the airfield has barely registered flights (now only Airnostrum operates two transfers per week), but has received 2.1 million in aid.
The CNC reserved for Catalonia nearly two pages of its conclusions. The cited as an example of "economic benefits" offered to companies, such as "assignment of land adjacent to the airport" [in reference to the offers made to Ryanair] or "discounts on airport charges" that makes that companies can operate "virtually at zero cost". For the CNC, some measures could not meet European standards, but points out, affair is not judge it. Even so, the Agency recommends that aid, if they exist, are temporary, channeled by public and supervised competitions.
One question (amongst many): What happens when this particular tap is switched off ? This year ? Next year ?