BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union state aid regulators have ordered Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair (I:RYA) to pay back to France about 10 million euros (7.9 million pounds) in illegal state aid received for operating at three small regional airports.
The European Commission said the French support, which consisted of contractual rebates and airport and marketing deals, gave the world's biggest budget airline an unfair advantage.
The EU competition watchdog said Ryanair would have to pay back about 6.4 million euros related to aid received for operating at Nimes Airport, the subject of an Air France (PA:AIRF) complaint.
Ryanair will also have to return 2.4 million euros in illegal aid connected to Pau Pyrenees Airport and about 868,000 euros related to Angouleme Airport.
Air France's low cost subsidiary Transavia was told to pay back 400,000 euros in illegal state aid related to marketing and airport service deals at Pau Pyrenees Airport.
The Commission also broadened its investigation into financial deals at Austria's Klagenfurt Airport, saying these seemed to be excessively favourable to Ryanair.
The EU executive cleared state aid granted to Germany's Dortmund, Leipzig/Halle and Niederrhein-Weeze airports as they complied with the rules.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Adrian Croft)