Almost a quarter of EU airports served by Ryanair are “likely” to be loss-making and sustained through subsidies, a new report has found.
According to analysis done by Transport & Environment (T&E), 52 Ryanair-carrying airports are either documented to be receiving subsidies or see less than 500,000 passengers pass through its terminals each year.
Approximately half of the low-cost carrier’s airports receiving subsidies are based in France, and receive state aid from national governments and local authorities, the Brussels-based group found.
While the aid is given to the struggling airports, the authors of the report argue that it is essentially a subsidy to airlines like Ryanair that can then benefit from lower landing and airport charges.
Airports use this financial aid to charge rates below the market level in order to attract airlines, the report states.
The European Commission should end state aid for loss-making airports like “it did for coal mines earlier this decade”, T&E concluded in its assessment. In 2010, the European Commission instructed member states to arrange the gradual shutdown of loss-making coal mines.
Read more at: Green News
