Belgium's Walloon region will have to take Irish no-frills airline Ryanair to court if the carrier does not pay back illegally granted state aid, a regional minister said on Wednesday.

Walloon Transport Minister Andre Antoine told a news conference the region sent a letter to Ryanair last week reclaiming EUR3.9 million (USD$4.8 million) in subsidies relating to its hub at state-owned Charleroi Airport.

"In a case of no voluntary action [by Ryanair], the Walloon region will see itself forced to launch a legal action to recover the aid," Antoine said.

If Ryanair does not start paying back the money, the case would likely end up in an Irish court, he said. Ryanair has until mid-October to reply.

Antoine stressed it was "his dearest wish" to have Ryanair stay at Charleroi, but that he had no choice but to abide by European Union law.

In February, EU competition regulators ordered Ryanair to repay several million euros in subsidies to the southern Belgian region, saying incentives it received for setting up a hub at Charleroi were illegal under EU law.

A Ryanair spokesman said that the company had received an 18 page letter, in French, from the region on Friday evening.

"To avoid any confusion or ambiguities we have asked for an official translation into English. We will respond immediately once we receive it and publish the full details of our response."

But Antoine said he does not plan to send a translated letter, since as a minister he may only use French or Dutch in what he writes.

The European Commission had granted Wallonia an extension until September 15 before it had to start recovering the funds.

The Commission said on Wednesday the proposed refund was appropriate.

The region's letter also sets out Charleroi's new regime for airport charges, and a new regime for start-up aid.

Commission spokesman Amador Sanchez Rico said the Commission would examine the proposed airport charges to make sure they were transparent and not discriminatory.

Antoine said that if Ryanair were to pull out its activities from the Charleroi hub "in an important way", the region could seek to reclaim all of the state aid granted to it.

Antoine could not specify the total amount of aid the region and the airport had granted Ryanair.

(Reuters)