Ryanair to appeal after being ordered to pay back ‘illegal state aid’
Ryanair has instructed its lawyers to appeal against a ruling by the European Commission to make it pay back nearly €9.6 million in what the regulators claim was illegal state aid.
The EC said the funds received from three French airports in airport service agreements and marketing arrangements had given Ryanair and its subsidiaries "an undue economic advantage over competitors".
The agreements with Angouleme, Pau Pyrenees and Nimes airports were in place at various times between 2000 and 2012.
The EC said in each case Ryanair had "paid less than the additional costs linked to its presence in the airport" and therefore had a competitive advantage.
Ryanair’s operations at three German airports were cleared by the inquiry but an investigation continues into Austria’s Klagenfurt airport.
Ryanair said it welcomed the rulings concerning Germany but would be challenging the decision on France.
"Today’s decisions confirm that Ryanair’s airport agreements at Niederrhein Airport comply with the EU state aid rules," said the airline’s director of legal and regulatory affairs Juliusz Komorek.
"Following the closure of this case and the earlier six positive decisions at Aarhus, Bratislava, Charleroi, Marseille, Berlin Schonefeld and Tampere airports, we will immediately appeal the decisions in (the) Pau, Angouleme and Nimes cases, where the EU Commission mistakenly suggested the airports’ agreements with Ryanair did not fully comply with the EU state aid rules."
Dutch carrier Transavia, part of the Air France-KLM group, was also ordered to repay €400,000 in the case of Pau Pyrenees.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt