Ryanair claims Spanair receives illegal funding
Airline's deputy CEO also calls Spanish carrier "inefficient, high-cost and polluting"
Low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair sought to justify the funding it has received from the Catalan government to fly out of the airports of Reus and Girona, but slammed subsidies afforded to its Barcelona-based rival Spanair as "illegal."
At a news conference to announce 19 new flights out of Girona this summer, Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley said the Catalan government had habitually broken European rules on state aid in its funding of Spanair, which he described as "inefficient, high-cost, polluting and should be in receivership."
Ryanair last year negotiated eight million euros in funding from Catalonia in order to continue flying out of Reus and Girona. Cawley said Ryanair "does not look for subsidies, but for low costs," and "does not care" how it goes about securing them.
