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French authorities said on Friday they are getting a plane Ryanair, London-bound passengers off the aircraft, to get the Irish low-cost airline, the latest in a string of disorders for the carrier.
Claiming that Ryanair owed them € 525,000 ($ 595,000) in the United States of America. .
Just under 24 hours later, the authorities said Friday, allowing it to reclaim its aircraft.
'Last resort'
"This measure was taken as a last resort by the French authorities after several reminders and attempts to recover the money failed," the DGAC civil aviation body said of the seizure.
The EU Commission in 2014 ruled that subsidies Ryanair received from a regional authority a decade ago, but said it.
The move on the plane, a Boeing 737, on Thursday at Bordeaux's Merignac airport in southwestern France Posted by admin at 6:05 AM 0 comments Email This BlogThis!
"By this action, the government reaffirms its intention to guarantee the conditions of fair competition between airlines and airports," DGAC said.
It was "unfortunate" that the passengers on board the aircraft had to wait for it.
Ryanair's fleet is made up mostly of Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which has a list price of around $ 98 million each.
'Such stinginess'
Ryanair did not answer to AFP's requests for comment on Friday.
But the President of the French regional airport authority, Didier Villat, said that before paying, Ryanair had tried to bargain.
"They owed us 525,585.05 euros and they paid 524,907.80, which is the sum fixed on September 15" but which, the official said, did not take account of accrued interest since that date.
"Such stinginess, but we will not take the matter any further," a smiling Villat told AFP.
The sum was negligible for Ryanair, "a very wealthy company," said the official.
"They wanted to make this a question of principle, but so did we," he said.
"I'm happy because I'm the little guy who got his respected," Villat said.
Plenty headaches
The Bordeaux incident comes after a series of mishaps for Ryanair across Europe.
In October, EU anti-trust authorities opened an investigation into the case of Ryanair.
And last week ministers of the European governments warned Ryanair that it could face legal trouble if it ignores national labor laws after a series of strikes across the continent.
Ryanair pilots across Europe staged a 24-hour stoppage in September to further demands for better pay and conditions, causing chaos for tens of thousands of passengers.
In July, disrupted 600 flights in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, affecting 100,000 travelers.
A major issue among staff based outside Ireland remains the firm's practice
The pan-European stoppages, but it still costs 1.10-1.20 billion euros in its current financial year.
Ryanair is also fighting against charges for carry-on bags.
In the Netherlands, it is also at loggerheads with the judiciary for shutting down its Eindhoven base for winter, despite a Dutch short decision stopping it from forcing pilots there to transfer abroad.
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