Following an in-depth investigation initiated in July 2018 (see EUROPE 12055/25), the European Commission concluded in early August that marketing services contracts worth 8.5 million euros between the Association de promotion des flux touristiques et économiques (APFTE) and Ryanair at Montpellier airport, are illegal under EU state aid rules.
Between 2010 and 2017, the APFTE concluded various marketing contracts with Ryanair and its subsidiary AMS, under which the latter received payments in exchange for promoting Montpellier and the Occitanie region as a tourist destination on the Ryanair website. The airline served Montpellier until April 2019.
The Commission's investigation revealed that the contracts concluded with Ryanair could be considered as public aid, as the APFTE is controlled and financed almost entirely by regional and local entities. In addition, the payments made to the company did not correspond to real marketing needs, but only served to encourage Ryanair to maintain its activities at Montpellier airport.
Conclusion: The marketing contracts gave Ryanair an unfair and selective advantage over its competitors and constitute unlawful State aid under EU competition rules, in particular the Commission's guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines.
Previously, the Commission had identified the airports of Nîmes, Pau and Angoulême in France, Zweibrücken and Altenburg-Nobitz in Germany, Klagenfurt in Austria and Cagliari, Olbia and Alghero in Italy.
Investigations are ongoing concerning contracts concluded between other public authorities and airlines at the airports of Frankfurt-Hahn in Germany and Reus and Girona in Spain. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)