Ryanair to repay illegal Belgian subsidies
No-frills airline Ryanair today said it had agreed to repay €4m in illegal state subsidies paid by Belgium to encourage it to keep a hub at the country’s Charleroi airport.
The Dublin-based carrier said it would place four million euros in an escrow account until the European courts hear its appeal of the European Commission’s decision to rule the payments illegal.
It said that if its appeal is successful, the funds would be returned to Ryanair, or if unsuccessful, repaid to the Walloon authorities.
The commission ruled earlier this year that discounts on landing fees and ground handling services at the publicly owned airport near Brussels should be repaid because they were illegal under European Union anti-trust rules.
Ryanair is challenging the decision and said today that the €40m costs of establishing and running its base at Charleroi vastly exceeded any discounts received from the Walloon region.
A spokesman for the airline said: “Ryanair is confident that the unlawful decision of the European Commission will be overturned by the European Court.
