Walloon government sues Ryanair for €2.3m

THE Walloon government is suing Ryanair for around €2.3 million in the Irish courts, it emerged yesterday.

Belgian daily newspaper La Libre Belgique reported that Transport Minister Andre Antoine had introduced a legal complaint in Dublin on April 20.

It calls for the return of €2.3m - a part of the €15m which it gave to the Irish budget airline to woo it to Charleroi in the French-speaking part of Belgium.

The subsidy was judged by the European Commission in February 2004 to be “illegal” state aid, giving Ryanair an unfair advantage over other airlines.

Wallonia was ordered by the Commission to take steps to seek the return of the money.

Though the regional government has held negotiations with Ryanair, so far the airline has refused to pay any of the money back.

It has put €4m into a blocked bank account, but said it will not pay up until the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg rules on its appeal against the Commission decision.