The European Commission said today that it had opened an in-depth investigation into aid for the operators of France's Beziers airport and agreements between the operators and Ryanair.
The Commission, which oversees competition policy in the European Union, said a preliminary investigation had raised concerns that operating aid granted to operators of Beziers airport from 2007 was incompatible with the single market.
With respect to Ryanair, the Commission said it had decided to open an in-depth study into certain marketing agreements from 2009 and airport services agreements from 2007 with the airport operators.
"At this stage, the Commission has concerns that the agreements in question may give Ryanair an undue economic advantage vis-à-vis its competitors that might amount to incompatible aid in favour of Ryanair," the Commission said in a statement.
Beziers is in the south of France.
