European court rejects EasyJet complaint over Amsterdam charges

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - A European court has rejected a complaint brought by budget airline easyJet (EZJ.L) against Dutch airport operator Schiphol Amsterdam [SCHP.UL] over passenger and security charges.

The British-based airline had argued that Schiphol was discriminating by charging passengers who start their journey in Amsterdam twice as much as transfer passengers. It argued that the fees were neither related to costs nor transparent.

It lodged a complaint with the Dutch competition authority in 2008, then with the European Commission in 2011. Both were rejected, prompting it to seek a ruling from the General Court of the European Union, the EU's second highest court.

The court did not assess the merits of the national authority's decision, but said on Wednesday that the Commission had acted correctly in finding that the national authority had dealt with the complaint on the basis of EU competition law.

The Commission, it said, had correctly found that the national authority had examined whether the charges were proportionate to the costs and compared the charges with those of other international airports.

A complainant can appeal to the Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, on points of law within two months of notification of the General Court's decision.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; editing by Keith Weir)