=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/09/08/f= inancial1108EDT0075.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, September 8, 2004 (AP) No-frills Ryanair to pay EU fine (09-08) 08:08 PDT DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- Ryanair, the Irish-headquartered budget airline expanding rapidly across Europe, said Wednesday it intends to pay a hefty fine to settle European Union charges it received unfair subsidies. Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary had initially insisted that Ryanair would refuse to pay a single cent of the estimated 4.5 million euro ($5.5 million) fine related to subsidies that Ryanair has received since 2000 from Charleroi airport in Belgium, the airline's first continental European hub. But airline spokesman David Gering said Wednesday that the amount identified by the EU as illegal subsidies "will be reimbursed." Gering said Ryanair still thought the EU competition authority -- which = in February ruled that some subsidies offered to Ryanair at Charleroi promoted anticompetitive practices -- was wrong. "The amount to be paid is not a big deal. The principle is," he said. A new contract negotiated between Charleroi, which is owned by Belgium's regional Wallonian government, and Ryanair requires the airline to pay a flat 5 euro ($6) fee for each passenger that travels through the airport. The airport, in turn, subsidizes baggage-handling and aircraft-servicing facilities for Ryanair. EU competition chiefs have warned that the new contract also would be deemed illegal if Ryanair's passenger numbers through the airport surpass 2 million annually. Last year, 1.8 million used Charleroi. Also Wednesday, Rynair announced five new routes Wednesday linking Rome = to England, Germany and Spain. The new services between the Italian capital's Ciampino airport and Duesseldorf, Germany; Valencia, Spain; and Liverpool, Teesside and Nottingham in England are scheduled to start in late January or early February. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP