ABSTRACT
Competition between airports can be distorted for several reasons. One reason, the misuse of a dominant market position, was dealt with in a separate lecture at the German Aviation Research Society (GARS) conference in Vienna. Another reason for the distortion of competition is financial intervention by public authorities. The Treaty establishing the European Communities (TEC) deals with the permissibility of State aid in its Article 87. While there is a fairly voluminous body of case law on State aid to airlines and State aid for airports, especially in the field of aid for the construction of airport infrastructure, the European Commission was confronted with a new phenomenon in its recent Brussels Charleroi decision: State aid for low-cost carriers serving regional airports.
