Ryanair may have to shorten Charleroi lease

Ryanair may be forced to shorten its lease at Belgium's Charleroi airport, according to the airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary.

The low fares airline's boss said that the EU Commission would probably require Ryanair to make the adjustment because of investigations into state airport subsidies.

The Irish airline is the subject of a Commission investigation into whether it received Belgian state subsidies at its Charleroi hub, a city about 40km south of Brussels.

State aid to airlines has been banned since the early 1990s to help create a more competitive European market.

O'Leary repeated that the airline would appeal any ruling made against it.

"If there is anything that is affecting our cost base in Charleroi, we are heading to court, but I don't think it will come to that," he said today.

Ryanair has already stopped operating its London-to-Strasbourg service after a court banned a subsidy it said the airline was receiving from the local chamber of commerce.

Yesterday, Ryanair secured recognition from the German government and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that Niederrhein Airport could be called Dusseldorf's third airport.