Ryanair claims Spanair receives illegal funding

Low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair sought to justify the funding it has received from the Catalan government to fly out of the airports of Reus and Girona, but slammed subsidies afforded to its Barcelona-based rival Spanair as "illegal."

At a news conference to announce 19 new flights out of Girona this summer, Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley said the Catalan government had habitually broken European rules on state aid in its funding of Spanair, which he described as "inefficient, high-cost, polluting and should be in receivership."

Ryanair last year negotiated eight million euros in funding from Catalonia in order to continue flying out of Reus and Girona. Cawley said Ryanair "does not look for subsidies, but for low costs," and "does not care" how it goes about securing them.

From El Pais, Hoy…

You know, I think that a lot of the crap that Ryanair PR department put out there probably comes from their marketing department.

Ryanair has to be one of the most talked about airlines in Europe.

And you know what they say, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Justin

Justin,  I agree with most of your comment, but not the "no such thing as bad publicity"...in a word... "Ratner"   !

Yeah, good point

It didn't quite work out for them!!