Press Release: State aid: Commission adopts three decisions in aviation sector in Finland, Greece and Ireland

The European Commission has concluded that financial arrangements between the airport of Tampere Pirkkala in Finland and Ryanair do not constitute state aid in the meaning of EU rules because they are in line with market terms.

In another case, the Commission has found investment aid in favour of the Chania airport in Greece to be in line with EU state aid rules, in particular because it is well-targeted and proportionate to the objective pursued. In a third decision, the Commission ordered Ireland to recover incompatible state aid in the form of preferential airport taxes for certain short-haul destinations from the airlines that had benefitted from this measure, as they distorted competition between airlines.

• Primary Source

European Commission: Memo/12/597: State aid: Commission finds low-cost development strategy of Tampere-Pirkkala airport and Ryanair in line with EU state aid rules http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/12/597&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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