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Ryanair plane seized by French authorities in cash row | Ryanair plane seized by French authorities in cash row |
(35 minutes later) | |
A Ryanair plane has been seized by French authorities in a row over money in the latest problem for the airline. | A Ryanair plane has been seized by French authorities in a row over money in the latest problem for the airline. |
The French civil aviation authority grounded the Boeing 737 on Thursday at Bordeaux airport, before it was due to fly to Stansted with 149 passengers. | |
It said the move was "a last resort". | It said the move was "a last resort". |
The dispute was caused by French subsidies paid to Ryanair for flights from Angoulême regional airport between 2008 and 2009, which the European Commission later deemed illegal. | |
The French civil aviation authority did not say how much money was involved, but regional airport officials said the sum was €525,000 (£457,000). | |
The authority said the plane "will remain immobilised until the sum is paid". | |
"It is unfortunate that the state had to take such action, which led to the inevitable inconvenience of the 149 passengers on board the immobilised plane," the French civil aviation authority said. | "It is unfortunate that the state had to take such action, which led to the inevitable inconvenience of the 149 passengers on board the immobilised plane," the French civil aviation authority said. |
"Those passengers were able to eventually reach their destination later that evening on another Ryanair plane, but with a five-hour delay." | "Those passengers were able to eventually reach their destination later that evening on another Ryanair plane, but with a five-hour delay." |
It is the latest in a series of setbacks for Ryanair, which has recently faced a series of strikes by pilots and cabin crew across Europe. | |
But despite flight cancellations, Ryanair reported an 11% rise in traffic in October, as it carried 13.1 million passengers. | |
The stoppages contributed to a 7% fall in profits to €1.2bn (£1.06bn) for the six months to 30 September. |
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