Ryanair plane seized by French authorities on cash row

A Ryanair plane has been seized by French authorities in a row over money in the latest problem for the airline.

The French civil aviation authority grounded the Boeing 737 on Thursday at Bordeaux airport, before it was due to fly to Stansted with 149 passengers.

It said the move was "a last resort".

The dispute was caused by French subsidies paid to Ryanair for flights from Angoulême regional airport between 2008 and 2009, which the European Commission later deemed illegal.

The budget carrier owed money and it was "regrettable that the state was forced" to evacuate the plane, the civil aviation authority said.

The passengers had gone through passport control and security and were about to walk on the tarmac to board the plane when airport authorities told them to turn around, passenger Boris Hejblum said.

The passengers were put on another flight that finally brought them to London's Stansted airport — five hours late.

The multi-million dollar jet, meanwhile, was released only Friday after Ryanair paid a bill of 525,000 euros ($610,000).

The scene unfolded at the Bordeaux-Merignac airport in western France, where authorities say the airline was ordered to pay back funds that the European Union had declared to be illegal subsidies. Ryanair did not publicly comment on the seizure.

French aviation agency spokesman Eric Heraud said regional authorities who originally gave the subsidies had been trying since 2014 to recover the money and sent its final legal warning in May. After six months without a response from Ryanair, it decided to act Friday.

The standoff with French authorities will not help Ryanair, which more than most carriers, has come to symbolize budget airlines' relentless focus on the bottom line at the cost of customer service.

Ryanair has become Europe's largest airline by a number of passengers by persistently offering some of the cheapest fares available. That ensures its planes are packed.

It then makes extra money with add-on fares. Besides charging for seating choice and food — now standard practice on budget flights the world over — it also has travelers pay for any carry-on bag that's larger than a purse.

It manages to keep its costs down by flying to out of the way airports at odd hours to get cheaper airport slots.