Ryanair welcome court decision

The European Court of First Instance today dismissed a case taken by the EU Commission, claiming that Ryanair's relationship with Charleroi amounted to state aid or subsidy. It has taken 4 years for the case to draw to a conclusion. As a result of today's judgement, the EU Commissions 'Airport Guideline' which was based on it's 2004 decision in relation to Charleroi, is declared null and void.

Welcoming the decision, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said that " Charleroi airport has been the model for how small regional and secondary airports around Europe can transform themselves from unused airfields into growing profitable international airports, which are providing regional growth, new jobs, lower fares, competition and choice for millions of European consumers." He also called on the " .. EU Commission to drop their other State Aid cases against similar regional and secondary airports (Alghero, Aarhus, Bratislava, Frankfurt Hahn, Hamburg Lubeck, Pau, Berlin Schonefeld and Tampere), most of which have been brought to the Commission by larger competitor airports who are trying to block competition and lower fares."

From an used facility in 2001, Charleroi has now grown to be an airport handling over 2m passengers per year and is now being used by airlines other than Ryanair. Had Ryanair lost the case, it could have faced repaying €4.5m in incentives to the Belgian government.