DETERMINED Ryanair chiefs insist low-fare flights from Bournemouth and beyond will continue despite a court ruling which has threatened to upset the booming budget travel industry.

In what could prove a landmark test case, the Irish carrier has been forced to suspend its flights to Strasbourg after a legal challenge by Air France, the state-owned airline which previously operated the route and charged higher fares.

A French court upheld the company's claim that Ryanair had broken competition rules by negotiating a £1m subsidy from Strasbourg's chamber of commerce.

Yet Ryanair has similar agreements with 20 publicly-owned airports across Europe, which help it to maintain cheap fares and undercut other carriers.

And there is speculation this case will open the floodgates to other air rivals to force Ryanair out of more locations.

But the airline, which will soon add Barcelona to its Bournemouth services to Glasgow and Dublin, remains defiant. It intends to challenge the judgement on appeal, and is confident of winning the case.

"It is fundamentally wrong that secondary and regional airports in France - just because they are owned by government or local authorities - should be prevented from competing in Europe to win the enormous economic benefits which Ryanair's low-fare services bring," said chief executive Michael O'Leary.

"Direct low-fare services are vital, and the French government must now support the regional airports and Ryanair as we continue to develop tourism and jobs in the regions."

Though airport chiefs declined to comment, it is understood Bournemouth has its own deal with Ryanair, which means the airline pays little or nothing in the way of landing fees or other charges.

Other operators who do pay such contributions, such as Palmair, have complained to the Civil Aviation Authority about this effective subsidy.

But they have been told that it would be difficult to challenge because small regional airports put this down as part of their marketing expenses.