Budget Airlines Look Safe As Ryanair Judgement Steers A Safe Course

4.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 3rd Feb 2004

The European Commission's ruling that the subsidies given to Ryanair to use Charleroi airport near Brussels were illegal will not undermine budget flights, according to Chris Huhne, Hampshire MEP and economic spokesman of the European Liberal Democrats.

Mr Huhne said that the judgement had allowed some subsidies appropriate for a depressed region, but that in any case many budget airlines were capable of very low fares without having taxpayer funded subsidies at regional airports.

Mr Huhne pointed out that Fly Be and Easyjet were much less reliant than Ryanair on subsidised landing rights, and could still offer very cheap deals out of airports such as Stansted and Southampton that charge commercial landing fees.

'Public subsidies usually distort competition, and end up costing the taxpayer a small fortune. As soon as one Government starts subsidising business, another one comes along and says that it has to subsidise its businesses to create a level playing field. Before you know it, nothing has changed except the soaring cost to the taxpayer' said Mr Huhne.

'That is why we have always backed the Commission wholeheartedly in its campaign to squeeze down state subsidies to business. Most of them are wasted'.

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