State aid for airlines - the story so far
30th March 2020
lm group has said that the Italian Supreme Court has rejected all the claims of Ryanair which ruled that the airline cannot prevent lm group from displaying and intermediating its flights.
The highest Court explained in a very clear and detailed way the criteria needed to determine the “relevant market” in order to assess Ryanair’s abuse of its dominant position in relation to the activities of lm group.
Additionally, the Supreme Court has rejected Ryanair’s grounds of appeal aimed at having a declaration of its right to refuse its consents to lm group to have access to its database and to intermediate booking procedures on behalf of their clients.
The Court of Appeal of Milano is now called to judge again if Ryanair’s practices lead to an abuse of its dominant position leading to discriminatory behaviour.
The Court of Appeal had already ruled in favour of lm group in 2015 stating that the group does not violate any intellectual property rights or any contractual obligation towards Ryanair in performing its online travel agency activities in respect of Ryanair flights.
Marco Corradino, CEO of lm group, commented: “This is another very significant decision that once again establishes Ryanair's conduct as unlawful while confirming that our service encourages fair competition in the market and brings strong value to the customer by offering a mix of unique travel solutions from several providers -something Ryanair and traditional airline companies can't offer.
"We really believe that such a decision might represent the basis for a disruptive change in the world of online travel services both in the definition of relations with airlines and in relations with new online tourism operators.”