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Infrastructure: State Aid: Commission cleared public support to Timisoara Airport
The European Commission has cleared the public funding granted by Romania to Timi?oara Airport between 2007 and 2009, as well as the fees payable by all airlines using the airport and the charges to be paid by Wizz Air in favour of the airport on the basis of individual agreements.
Timi?oara Airport is an international airport located in western Romania. With over 1.6 million passengers per year, it is the third largest airport in the country. Timi?oara Airport is operated by Societatea Nationala Aeroportul International Timi?oara – Traian Vuia – S. A (the “Airport Manager”).
In May 2011, following a complaint by Carpatair, a company active on the European air transport market, and on the basis of further information, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether certain measures in favour of Timi?oara Airport and Wizz Air were in line with EU State aid rules. This concerned in particular:
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the public funding granted to Timi?oara Airport Manager between 2007 and 2009;
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the schemes of airport charges and related discounts adopted in 2007, 2008 and 2010;
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the agreements signed in 2008 between the Airport Manager and Wizz Air, namely: (i) a memorandum of understanding, (ii) a marketing agreement, (iii) an operation agreement, and (iv) a ground handling agreement (jointly the "2008 Agreements"); and
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non-enforcement of invoiced airport charges by the Airport Manager to Wizz Air for the period October 2009 to February 2010.
The Commission found that:
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certain public funds received by the Airport Manager between 2007 and 2009 were used to either finance non-economic activities at the airport, or did not grant any economic advantage to the airport. Therefore, they did not constitute State aid. The remaining publicly financed investments were fully compatible with the 2005 State Aid Aviation Guidelines, which were in force at that time.
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the 2007, 2008 and 2010 schemes of airport charges, including their discounts and rebates, applied to all airlines at the Timi?oara Airport in the same manner. This means those schemes were not selective and, therefore, did not amount to State aid.
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the 2008 Agreements with Wizz Air were incrementally profitable for the airport and a prudent market economy operator would have entered into such arrangements. Therefore, these measures did not constitute State aid.
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the outstanding airport charges to be paid by Wizz Air were set off against the airline's claims for marketing payments, in line with the applicable laws. Thus, the alleged non-enforcement complaint became without object.
Background
The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.31662 in the State Aid Register on the DG Competition website, once any confidentiality issues have been resolved. New publications of state aid decisions on the internet and in the Official Journal are listed in the State Aid Weekly e-News.