France's top administrative court has told Ryanair to apply French labour laws for staff operating out of the country, dismissing an attempt by the airline to bypass local working norms.
Ryanair, and UK low-cost carrier EasyJet, had appealed a decree introduced last year that obliged foreign airlines to apply French labour laws for crews of aircraft based here.
Irish-based Ryanair said the decree contravened European laws on the free movement of labour and services.
However France's Conseil d'État threw out the complaint and ordered both airlines to pay €2,500 in judicial costs, the court said in a statement yesterday.
Ryanair said it would take further legal action after the decision. The airline said it had requested the European Commission begin an infringement procedure against France over what it said was an unlawful decree.
"Ryanair has challenged this unlawful and anti-competitive labour decree as it is contrary to European laws on free movement of labour and services, freedom of establishment and the liberalised air transport market," Ryanair's head of regulatory affairs and company secretary, Jim Callaghan, said.
"Ryanair will challenge the court's refusal to request a preliminary ruling from the European courts and to provide undistorted competition in France.
"French consumers have suffered long enough under an Air France monopoly which is denying them the benefits of competition and low fares."
A spokesman for EasyJet, which has 170 employees in France, said it would comply with French law and enter into a process now to ensure it was doing so. - (Reuters)
