Brussels, 31/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - Several European airlines have demanded that the European Commission lay down rules about subsidies to low-cost airlines, AFP announced on Thursday, quoting the Spanish press agency Europa Press. Iberia, Air France and British Airways want “Brussels to state clearly which types of aid are allowed under Community standards, and which are not”, declared the Director General of Iberia, Angel Mullor. The aim is to “remove the ambiguity” resulting from the decision on the Irish airline Ryanair, which the Commission took in February 2004 when it found that a small proportion of the aid granted to Ryanair by Charleroi Airport and the Region of Wallonia were illegal, but authorised most of the advantages awarded to the Irish low-cost airline (EUROPE of 4 February 2004). On Tuesday, the president of Iberia, Fernando Conte, complained about the competition distortion between the “low-costs” and the major airlines because, he added, the taxes paid by the latter to Spanish airports go to supporting small loss-making airports where the low-cost airlines, which enjoy subsidies, operate. On Wednesday, Mr Mullor went as far as to threaten to drop routes via Barcelona, Galicia and Andalusia if major airlines like Iberia are not granted aid to operate in the airports of these regions on exactly the same basis as their low-cost rivals.
Competition between traditional and low-cost airlines has increased in recent years due to the emergence of these low-cost airlines and the keenness of airports, especially regional ones, to attract new air links. This is why the Commission announced a communication establishing community guidelines in the field of aviation in the wake of its Ryanair decision. The aim of this is to establish a clear legal framework specifying modes of funding from airports and extending the opportunities for State aid to be used for the operation of airlines, by including start-up aid for airlines operating from regional airports (EUROPE of 3 December 2004). This communication, which has now been finalised, is to be sent to the Member States before its adoption by the European Commission “around summer”, said a Commission source.