EC failure to investigate

Ryanair Holdings PLC
10 July 2007


         Ryanair To Sue European Commission for Failure to Investigate
                              State Aid Complaints


Ryanair, Europe's largest low fares airline, today (Tuesday, 10th July 2007)
announced that it will sue the European Commission in the European Courts for
its repeated failure to take action on a number of State Aid complaints
involving Air France, Lufthansa, Alitalia and Olympic Airways, which were
submitted to the Commission over a year ago. These complaints involved hundreds
of millions of Euro in illegal state aids being granted by the French, German,
Italian and Greek Governments to subsidise their flag carrier airlines. Although
Ryanair has called on the Commission several times to investigate these claims,
the Commission has failed to do so.

Confirming that Ryanair is in the process of submitting a complaint against the
Commission to the European Courts, Ryanair's Head of Regulatory Affairs, Jim
Callaghan, said:

    'This is another example of the Commission's twin track approach to state
    aid. On one hand they refuse to take action against serious violations of
    the state aid rules by national Governments to protect their flag carrier
    airlines like Air France, Lufthansa, Alitalia and Olympic, while at the same
    time they launch bogus investigations against small regional and secondary
    airports like Charleroi. The foolishness of the Commission's Charleroi
    decision is that Ryanair now actually has a lower cost base in Charleroi.

    'The Commission has failed to take any action against the following blatant
    abuses of the state aid rules:

   •The French Government's discounting of domestic airport fees, which
    amounts to an illegal state aid to Air France of approximately €1bln. over
    the past 7 years. Meanwhile, the Commission is pursuing tiny Malta for a
    similar discounting of its domestic airport charges.

   •The German Government has allowed state owned Munich Airport to rack up
    losses of over €50m. p.a. on a new terminal built exclusively for Lufthansa.
    These losses are a massive subsidy to Lufthansa, the only occupant of this
    terminal. Meanwhile, the Commission is going after small regional and
    secondary airports like Charleroi that are offering competitive deals to
    airlines, like Ryanair, who are prepared to deliver huge traffic growth to
    these otherwise underutilised airports.

   •The Italian and Greek Governments have repeatedly given massive
    injections of state aid into their terminally ill flag carrier airlines,
    Alitalia and Olympic. The Commission has rubberstamped multi-billion bailout
    packages for Alitalia and the Italian Government is currently planning to
    write off hundreds of millions in losses at the national airline in order to
    make it attractive for sale. Meanwhile, the European Commission blocked
    Ryanair from taking over the small, loss making regional Irish airline, Aer
    Lingus. Moreover, the Greek Government has never repaid the multi-millions
    in illegal state aid granted to Olympic.

    'It appears as always that the Commission applies one rule for the high fare
    flag carrier airlines and state owned primary airports, but a different one
    for low cost airlines like Ryanair and the numerous regional and secondary
    airports that are offering competition and lower fares to the travelling
    public. The European Commission is more concerned with protecting
    inefficient flag carrier airlines and hub airports than it is with actually
    promoting competition and the consumer interest.

    'Ryanair is left with no alternative but to challenge the Commission's
    failure to investigate these unlawful state aid abuses in the European
    Courts. Ryanair is confident that the European Court will take the
    Commission to task for their failure to fairly enforce the state aid rules
    against national Governments who continue to protect their inefficient flag
    carrier airlines.

    'It is time that the European Commission stops this twin track approach to
    enforcing the state aid rules. The same rules should be fairly applied to
    all airlines, and an end put to the unlawful state aid to the flag
    carriers'.


Ends.                                             Tuesday, 10th July 2007

For reference: Peter Sherrard - Ryanair 
               Tel: [phone]     

               Pauline McAlester - Murray Consultants
               Tel: [phone]


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