EU to rule against Ryanair on aid - report

The European Commission is set to take a tough line in a state aid case against Ryanair by ruling that several benefits granted…

The European Commission is set to take a tough line in a state aid case against Ryanair by ruling that several benefits granted to the no-frills airline are illegal, the Financial Timeshas reported.

The FTquoted people familiar with a preliminary ruling in the case as saying the Irish carrier would be ordered to repay some of the benefits it received in return for setting up a base in the Belgian town of Charleroi.

Ryanair could not be reached immediately for comment, but last month it said it would appeal to the courts against any negative decision.

The FTsaid details of the decision, expected this month, remained unclear and it could be modified.

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But the newspaper said the decision threatened to raise the carrier's low cost-base and make it more difficult to negotiate good deals with small, regional airports.

In a separate issue, Ryanair said yesterday that European Union governments should throw out a new law setting levels of compensation for delayed passengers and vowed to challenge the law in court if they did not.