Ryanair Strasbourg appeal rejected by French court

A French appeal court has rejected a plea by Irish low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings PLC and the operator of the Strasbourg airport for suspension of a court ruling against subsidy payments to the carrier.

The previous court ruling found that payments by the airport operator, the local chamber of commerce, to the airline in the form of advertising to promote the London-Strasbourg route amounted to an improper subsidy.

Ryanair has expressed dismay at the decision of the Nancy Court of Appeals, which rejected the airlines appeal for a stay on the decision of the Administrative Tribunal in Strasbourg.

The legal action had been initiated by Air France's subsidiary Brit Air.

Speaking from the Court of Appeals in Nancy this morning, Ryanair's Head of Regulatory Affairs, Jim Callaghan, said:

"We will now have to suspend the route pending the outcome of the appeal, which could take over a year to be heard. In the meantime, French consumers and UK visitors to the Alsace region will suffer."