Globe Merchant Travel Blog

Associated Press, 07.07.09, 04:50 AM EDT

BRUSSELS — The EU’s Court of Justice has imposed new fines against the Greek government for ignoring a 2005 ruling to take back millions of euros (dollars) worth of subsidies it gave to Olympic Airways.

The Luxembourg-based court imposed a euro2 million ($2.8 million) fine and a daily euro16,000 penalty until the Greek government complies with EU orders to claw back the subsidies.

The court’s Tuesday ruling says Greece’s “failure to fulfill obligations has lasted for more than four years.” The court had already imposed a euro10,000 ($14,000)-a-day fine in 2005.

The European Commission says Greece still has to recover euro105 million ($146 million) in aid, and airport tax levies the airline collected but did not give to Athens International Airport.

EU regulators in 2002 ordered the Greek government to recover euro160 million ($222 million) in restructuring and operating aid from Olympic which they said violated EU rules giving the airline an unfair advantage over competitors.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 9:28 am and is filed under General Airline News, Olympic Airlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.