Long before the corona pandemic, the European Union had a long-term roadmap to reduce state subsidies for airports to zero. Exceptions are planned and primarily affect remote regions and islands. Ryanair is now demanding state subsidies for airports.

Andreas Gruber, managing director of the former airline Laudamotion and now spokesman for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, told the editorial network Germany that state subsidies at airports would be important to get the industry going again. "The best instrument for this is government support for the airports," says the manager.

Laudamotion was taken over by Ryanair in several steps from 2018. Flight operations were discontinued in autumn 2020 and the AOC and operating license were then returned to the Austrian authorities. As a successor, Ryanair Holdings plc founded the Malta-based aviation company Lauda Europe Ltd. The latter carrier is managed by David O'Brien, who also serves as CEO of Malta Air Ltd. The Austrian Laudamotion GmbH is no longer active as an airline, but as an internal service provider within the Ryanair Group. Managing Director of the Schwechat-based company is still Andreas Gruber.

In the route network of the airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air there is one or the other airport that has the two low-cost airlines - or one of the two providers - as the only customers. Occasionally, these are airports that are kept running with the help of public subsidies because they are in deficit. In Germany, such airports are colloquially called "district runways".

However, the picture shown in the previous paragraph has not been entirely correct since the beginning of the corona pandemic, because almost all European airports are used deep in the red and there are subsidies of some kind almost everywhere. Be it through direct help or through measures such as short-time work.

"Don't throw money down the throat of the 'national champion'"

Andreas Gruber, on behalf of Ryanair, believes that financial subsidies given at airports should be passed on to airlines in the form of cost advantages. As a result, they would be able to attract more passengers with low fares. This should accelerate the recovery and ultimately the airport would earn more and the state would generate more tax revenue (e.g. air traffic tax).

Criticism has been leveled at Lufthansa, however: Among other things, it is being demanded that the new German federal government "have an open heart for aviation and will not throw money down the throat of the 'national champion' again". The allusion probably refers to Lufthansa, because the Irish group emphasizes the billions in state aid, which Kranich has now rescheduled to capital market bonds, in almost every media release.

Andreas Gruber sees the solution to the problem in new funding programs, which could also be price-reduced fee schedules, for example. However, he also stresses that all airlines should pay the same prices for the same services.