The Court of Justice for the European Union has confirmed the lawfulness of a subordinated loan of €150 million granted by Austria to Austrian Airlines in the summer of 2020.
The court has dismissed action which was brought forward by Ryanair and Laudamotion against the European commission’s approval of aid to Austrian Airlines (AUA) during the pandemic.
Ryanair said in a statement: ""The European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition has still not recovered the unlawful aid, nor has it imposed any measures to remedy the damage to competition caused by the German, French, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, and Italian governments favouring their local airlines over other EU airlines, in breach of EU law.""
The measure brought in by the European Commission intended to compensate AUA for damage resulting from the cancellation or rescheduling of its flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
To date, Ryanair has filed more than 20 lawsuits against the EU Commission in response to them approving state aid to airlines throughout the pandemic.
The court dismissed this action, stating: “The aid at issue, deducted from the subsidies granted, in the same context, by Germany to the Lufthansa group, does not constitute overcompensation in favour of that group.”
Ryanair and Laudamotion are not permitted to challenge the assertions of the General Court.
European court dismisses action brought forward by Ryanair against European commissions approval of aid
