Belgium's regional Walloon government said today it hoped to sell part of Charleroi airport, the European hub of Ryanair, by the end of 2003.
"It's scheduled for late this year or early next year," an official in the cabinet of Walloon Economics Minister Mr Serge Kubla told reporters.
The Walloon region, which owns more than 80 per cent of the airport, will hold on to a majority of the stock, he said.
The European Commission is completing a state aid probe into a 2001 deal between the airport and Ryanair, which set up a hub there two years ago, to see whether the help it gave the carrier complied with state aid rules.
Mr Kubla said there was no link between the probe and the decision to partly privatise the airport, which was taken two years ago. The region is waiting for a report from Bank Degroof, which is acting as an adviser to the privatisation. EU Commission sources said an outcome to the probe is expected for October or November.
Ryanair chief executive Mr Michael O'Leary said last week he was confident of a positive outcome and that the airline would not have to change the contract.
The industry is keeping a close eye on the case, which is a test for what incentives airports can offer to attract carriers.
Mr Kubla has said there is nothing wrong with the contract and that a private investor would have made the same choice. The BSCA airport, which posted a €0.9 million loss in 2002, said in its annual report it expected to achieve a profit this year and that the number of travellers through the airport would increase to 1.7 million this year from 1.27 million in 2002.