HOW TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ROUTES 159 While examining the marketing contracts concluded between the successive Nîmes Airport managers and Ryanair46, the Commission held that those criteria were not met because the marketing services focused on the airport and Ryanair’s services; the purchaser was not responsible for tourism promotion, and no tender had been organised to minimise expenditure. It stated that the fact that the marketing services were offered at the market price was not sufficient to exclude all aid in favour of the marketing provider(s). Recently, the European Commission decided that the marketing agreements concluded between the local Association for the Promotion of Touristic and Economic Flows (APFTE) located in Montpellier and Ryanair are illegal under EU State aid rules47. Between 2010 and 2017, the APFTE, an association unrelated to the airport operator and funded mostly by regional and local French public entities, concluded various marketing agreements with Ryanair and AMS, under which the airline and its subsidiary received payments worth around 8.5 million euros in exchange for promoting Montpellier and the surrounding area as a touristic destination on Ryanair's website. At the end of its investigation, following a complaint lodged by Air France, the Commission held that the payments in favour of Ryanair based on the marketing agreements that did not correspond to any APFTE’s effective marketing needs, but only served as an incentive for Ryanair to maintain its operations at Montpellier Airport. On this basis, the Commission found that the marketing agreements gave an undue and selective advantage to Ryanair over its competitors. Accordingly, the Commission concluded that the agreements amounted to an illegal and incompatible aid under EU State aid rules and that the advantage must be recovered. In that case, the amount of aid to be recovered corresponded to all the payments made by the APFTE and not limited to the deficit at the level of Montpellier Airport. 2.4. The purchase of flight tickets by a public company/authority Public authorities/entities opt for the purchase of flight tickets from an airline operating particular routes at an airport. Those tickets may be allocated to civil servants for their professional travel. In that case, aid to the airline may be excluded if the number of tickets acquired corresponds to the effective needs 46 Ibid. 47 Decision of 2 February 2019, Aid to Ryanair Montpellier airport, SA.47867, not yet published.
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