Brussels Airlines, Belgium's biggest carrier, threatened to relocate if the government did not offer tax breaks to help it compete against Ireland (Xetra: A0Q8L3 - news) 's low cost giant Ryanair, De Morgen daily reported on Wednesday.
"Ideally, we'd like to stay in Belgium, but this can't go on," Brussels Airlines chief executive Bernard Gustin told officials according to the paper.
"If you are not ready to do something against the distortion in competition, we'll go looking for another headquarters," he told the officials.
The paper reported that the carrier, a spin-off of the now defunct Sabena Airlines, was exploring a move to Luxembourg or Ireland, destinations that offered fiscal advantages to employees, notably pilots.
The paper added that the request met with reluctance by the government of Prime Minister Elio di Rupo who is resisting tax breaks to individual companies while the country struggles to implement austerity reforms.
Brussels Airlines, in which Germany's Lufthansa (Xetra: 823212 - news) holds a 45-percent stake, employs 3,300 people and operates 300 flights a day to 70 destinations from its hub at Brussels airport.
Ryanair uses a regional base in Charleroi, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Belgian capital.
Last week the European Commission said it had extended the scope of an investigation opened in December 2002 into advantages granted Ryanair when it set up operations at Charleroi.
In 2004, the Commission cleared some public support from Belgian authorities in favour of Ryanair but ordered the company to repay other aid deemed incompatible -- only for an EU court in 2008 to rule that the Commission had not followed procedures correctly.
Ryanair has frequently raised complaints of state aid granted to other European airlines to EU competition bosses.
Source: Yahoo! Finance
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2012-03-29
Brussels Airlines threatens to leave Belgium
Libellés :
Belgium,
Brussels Airlines,
Ireland,
luxembourg,
relocation
Luchthaven Deurne start in najaar ondertunneling startbaan
In het najaar wordt in Deurne gestart met de ondertunneling van de Krijgsbaan, waardoor de aanpalende luchthaven van Antwerpen in regel zou moeten kunnen blijven met de internationale voorschriften. De Vlaamse regering heeft het bestek voor de ondertunneling goedgekeurd, waardoor de aanbestedingsprocedure kan worden opgestart. Volgens internationale voorschriften moet de luchthaven van Antwerpen in het verlengde van de startbaan een veiligheidsstrook aanleggen, maar dat wordt bemoeilijkt door de aanwezigheid van de drukke Krijgsbaan. Het project is al jarenlang voorwerp van felle discussies. Eerdere plannen om een halfingegraven omleiding aan te leggen, werden door de Raad van State afgewezen. Nu zal er op het traject een tunnel van ongeveer 420 meter worden aangelegd. De ondertunneling past ook in de plannen van het Masterplan dat de verkeersproblemen rond Antwerpen moet proberen aan te pakken.
Source: Express.be
Source: Express.be
2012-03-28
A modern day mission: Lancaster bomber crew prepares for action 70 years on in remarkable set of airfield pictures | Mail Online
Posing tentatively in their uniforms, at first glance they could be a Lancaster Bomber crew preparing for a daring war-time mission.
But these photos were not taken 70 years ago, but this week at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre - the former Lancaster bomber base at RAF East Kirkby.
Admirers of the war-time planes stepped back in time to relive the sights, sounds and smells of the famous bomber which helped destroy the Nazi war machine.
They dressed up in original uniforms and sat in the cockpit of 'Just Jane', one of only three Lancasters left in the world capable of flying....
Read more on : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2119392/A-modern-day-mission-Lancaster-bomber-crew-prepares-action-70-years-remarkable-set-airfield-pictures.html#ixzz1qRivsqZY
Libellés :
Avro Lancaster,
reenactment,
Royal Air Force
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