The European Commission said today it will not accept US airlines using their $15 billion (€16.6 billion) bailout from Washington to slash fares on transatlantic routes.
"We have already told the American authorities that we can't accept that American companies use the support and the subsidies that they have received already for making unfair competition in the transatlantic market," EU Transport Commissioner Ms Loyola de Palacio said.
The Bush administration is extending to US airlines $5 billion in compensation and $10 billion in loan guarantees in the wake of the September 11th attacks in New York and Washington.
Ms de Palacio, who was meeting representatives of Europe's airline industry, had said on Wednesday that Brussels would permit only limited financial aid from EU member-state governments to European air carriers.
AFP