Ryanair has announced a deal that will allow the airline to carry on flying to and from Charleroi airport near Brussels.
The carrier's future at the Belgian airport was in doubt after a European Commission ruling in which the EC ordered it to repay millions of euros in Belgian subsidies because some of the handouts for using the Charleroi airport broke EU law.
But today Ryanair said it had concluded a deal with Charleroi and with Belgium's regional Walloon authorities that will mean, subject to EC approval, that the carrier can carry on with 11 services from the airport.
The deal includes the existing charges at Charleroi continuing until the airport reaches two million passengers a year.
The Walloon authorities will make Ryanair's subsidy arrangement available to other airlines using Charleroi. Ryanair could also base more aircraft at, and fly more routes from, Charleroi subject to a new terminal being constructed.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said: "We welcome this agreement, which is good news for consumers and removes uncertainty and allows our low-fare services to continue at Brussels Charleroi."
"This agreement was timely as we have negotiated a number of other airport base arrangements in recent months at costs which are lower than that at Brussels Charleroi, and there was a real likelihood that in the absence of an early agreement with Brussels Charleroi we would have closed the base and moved the aircraft and the low fare routes elsewhere."
PA