Brussels orders Ryanair to repay €2m in illegal Austrian airport aid

Ryanair has been given a slap on the wrists by the European Commission, ruling that the low-budget carrier must repay over €2m in illegal aid given to it by an Austrian airport.

German travel company TUI's unit TUIfly was also sanctioned to the tune of €1.1m in the ruling on Friday, the state aid regulators in Brussels said.

"Certain airport services and marketing agreements concluded between the airport operator and airlines Ryanair, HLX and TUIfly gave the latter an undue advantage, which cannot be justified under EU state aid rules,” the European Commission said on Friday.

"The amounts of incompatible state aid are estimated at around 2 million euros for Ryanair, €1.1 million for TUIfly and €9.6 million for HLX," the statement added.

Ryanair said it would dispute the EU ruling, which is related to Klagenfurt Airport in the southernly region of Austria.

"We note the Klagenfurt decision, where we stopped flying in 2013. We disagree with the findings and have instructed our lawyers to appeal," a spokesperson for the Irish carrier said.