Taxpayers face £5bn insurance bill for airlines

The taxpayer is facing an insurance bill of up to £5bn to keep Irish airlines in the air after insurers pulled the plug on third party war risk cover in the wake of the September 11 atrocities.

The news comes as Ryanair is promising to take the European Commission to court to halt any state aid for airlines.

This morning Swiss Air are back in the skies over Europe, two days after being grounded because the company could not afford fuel or landing fees.

It's airborne because of a government injection of £300m.

In Belgium Sabena's future is guaranteed for a month after the government there gave a loan of £10m.

Here, the issue of state aid for Aer Lingus has still to be decided, but today's papers report taxpayers are facing exposure of up to Ir£5bn.

Meanwhile, Ryanair is planning action against Belgium's loan to Sabena as a first move against state aid. The judgement in that case will have implications across the EU.