Airlines Flying To Sardinia Granted Illegal State Aid - EU

July 29, 2016

The European Commission has found that support granted by Italy's Sardinia region to selected airlines was an unfair advantage, ordering that the money be recovered.

The Commission, which rules on issues of state aid in the European Union, said that Sardinia had adopted a scheme in 2010 to provide funding to the airports of Cagliari and Olbia to ensure direct air connections throughout the year.

The airports in turn compensated selected airlines to increase traffic and carry out related marketing.

The Commission concluded that selected airlines received an unfair advantage. The measures were not designed to make the routes profitable without public funding and not restricted to the extra cost of opening new routes. Sardinia, the Commission said, had also not used tender procedures to select the airlines.

It concluded that no state aid was granted to the airports because they had passed the money on.

The Commission opened the in-depth investigation into the scheme in 2013.

(Reuters)