Ryanair wins EC case over Charleroi airport

[December 17th 2008]

Low cost airline Ryanair is hailing a decision by the European Court as a victory for regional airports around Europe.

The European Court of First Instance (CFI) has today decided to overturn the European Commission’s decision in 2004 on Ryanair’s base agreement with Charleroi airport near Brussels.

Ryanair claims that the CFI’s decision is a vindication of Charleroi airport’s business plan, which it says has resulted in a “thriving and profitable competitor to the high cost Brussels Zaventem Airport”.

Jim Callaghan of Ryanair comments: “Charleroi airport has been the model of how small regional and secondary airports around Europe can transform themselves from unused, loss-making facilities into profitable commercial entities, which are providing lower costs, competition and choice for European consumers - just as Ryanair has for airline flights”.

Callaghan says Brussels Zaventem airport took its complaint to the European Commission in an effort to “block competition” from Charleroi airport, and believes the EC should have rejected it.

“Charleroi has proven in the past four years that their model works. They have built a new low cost terminal, based on the success of their agreement with Ryanair, and other airlines have arrived in Charleroi as a result. The airport has been profitable each year for the past four years, which disproves the Commission’s claims they would be loss making for the term of the Ryanair contract,” says Callaghan.

Ryanair hopes the complaints against other regional airports in Europe will now be rejected too. “Today’s decision now clarifies that the low cost airports model works and does not involve state aid and Ryanair now calls on the Commission to drop their other complaints against similar small regional and secondary airports (Alghero, Aarhus, Bratislava, Hahn, Lubeck, Pau, Schonefeld, Tampere) – most of which have again been brought by competitors trying to block competition,” states Callaghan.

Not content to stop there, Ryanair is also challenging state aid for national airlines. Callaghan has called on the EC “to work with Ryanair to end the scandal of flag carrier state aid, highlighted most recently by the Italian Government’s latest multi-billion bailout of Alitalia and the Austrian government’s €500 million gift to Lufthansa to take over their failing airline”.

Written by: Nick Purdom

Help ease your credit crunch and book your Airport Car Parking at the market’s best prices with Holiday Extras