11th May 2006 14:08
Ryanair Holdings PLC11 May 2006 Ryanair Launches €1 Billion in State Aid Complaint Against Air France Ryanair, Europe's largest low fares airline, today (Thursday, 11th May 2006)announced that it had launched a complaint to the European Commission againstAir France regarding approximately €1 billion in illegal state aid that AirFrance has received from the French Government over the past number of years.The French Government has maintained an airport charging system whereby landingand passenger charges for domestic routes are often up to 50% lower than onroutes between France and other EU Member States. This is illegal under Europeanlaw and the European Commission has sued other Governments for similardifferentiated charging. As a result of this unfair price advantage Air France has received almost a €1billion in illegal state aid, which has furthered their dominance in the Frenchmarket and has placed competitors like Ryanair at a serious competitivedisadvantage. Ryanair have therefore called on the European Commission torequire the French Government to regularise their charging system and to forceAir France to repay this illegal state aid. Announcing the complaint against Air France, Ryanair's Head of RegulatoryAffairs, Jim Callaghan, said: "Air France has a rampant monopoly in the French market and this dominance has been enhanced by the illegal airport charging system that has been maintained in France, despite rulings by the European Commission in other EU member states. These substantially lower charges on domestic French routes, on which Air France has an almost complete monopoly, have allowed them to make super profits on domestic routes and to cross subsidise their international routes, on which they compete with airlines like Ryanair. As a result, France is the only major EU country that does not have a significant low fares airline presence. "For far too long, the French Government have been protecting Air France from competition and this is the most blatant example. Ryanair are now asking the European Commission to take urgent action against the French Government and to force Air France to repay this illegal state aid in order to remove the distortion of competition in the French market". Ends. Thursday, 11th May 2006 For further information: Peter Sherrard - Ryanair Pauline McAlester - Murray Consultants Tel: 00 353 1 812 1228 Tel: 00 353 1 4980 300 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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