Airports in unison after Ryanair ruling

Date: 12/02/04

AIRPORTS big and small are showing a united front in the wake of the European Commission's Ryanair ruling by promoting a study emphasizing how they boost growth.

"Airports create jobs, generate inward investment and create prosperity for the regions which they serve," said John Hume, director of policy for Airports Council International (ACI) Europe. "This undeniable fact should be the first consideration when governments review airport developments and their proposals."

A study conducted by York Aviation, a UK-based air transport consultancy, and released by ACI on Tuesday (10 February) found that total on-site employment at European airports was around 2.1 million in 2001, creating some 950 on-site jobs per million passenger per year.

The study found that for every million travellers, European airports support around 2,950 jobs nationally, 2,000 jobs regionally or 1,425 jobs sub-regionally. It also highlights the importance of low-cost carriers in accelerating tourism, which accounts for 5% of total employment and gross domestic product in the EU as a whole and of regional airports in providing an "essential social function" by connecting communities to key services such as hospitals and schools.

The European Commission ruled on 4 February that elements of a "sweetheart deal" which Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair had struck with Charleroi airport, some 40km south of Brussels, amounted to state aid and ordered the airline to pay back around €4 million of €15 million it had received in discounts.

Meanwhile, WIZZ Air, a new Anglo-Hungarian low-cost carrier that takes to the skies in May, has signed an agreement with Charleroi Airport.

Following the European Commission's ruling that Ryanair can no longer receive state aid for its operations at Charleroi airport, the Airports Council International (ACI) released a study on 10 February 2004 emphasising how airports create jobs and prosperity for the regions they serve.

http://www.airports.org/ http://www.airports.org/

http://www.yorkaviation.co.uk/ http://www.yorkaviation.co.uk/

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