Ryanair to contest EU ruling on state aid

Ryanair has elected to appeal the European Commission’s decision to force the airline to repay nearly €10 million in illegal state aid extended to it by the French airports of Pau, Nîmes, and Angoulême. The Commission investigated public aid measures to airports and airlines across Europe, including the three airports in France, three airports in Germany (Dortmund, Leipzig/Halle and Dusseldorf Weeze), and Klagenfurt in Austria. The Commission exonerated the latter four while condemning the marketing arrangements that the three French airports had concluded with Ryanair and its subsidiary Airport Marketing Services. Ryanair disputed the verdict, claiming all its airport arrangements