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Ryanair has won a European Union court challenge to an EU order blocking discounts it received from a Belgian regional airport.
The 2004 decision by the European Commission cancelled Ryanair’s accord with state-owned Charleroi airport in Belgium under which it paid less for landing fees and ground services.
The company appealed, arguing the decision was “worrying for the airline industry.”
The case at the European Court of First Instance, the main appeals tribunal for EU antitrust decisions, is the most prominent in a series of disputes between the EU and Ryanair.
The Commission had rejected Ryanair’s reduced landing fees at Charleroi airport south of Brussels, curbed discounts for ground services, limited other benefits to five years from 15 and ordered Ryanair to repay €4 million in aid.
Ryanair enters agreements with secondary airports that are seeking to boost regional development with more flights and passengers.
Since its decision on Charleroi, the commission has opened probes into aid Ryanair received at airports in France, Denmark, Slovakia and Germany.
The Brussels-based commission in 2005 drew up new state-aid guidelines for airports to codify the basis of its Charleroi decision. The guidelines set out the conditions under which airports can receive public financing and offer airlines start-up benefits.
