Ryanair loses appeals regarding state aid payments during the pandemic

Ryanair has lost two appeals before the European Union’s general court regarding state aid payments made to airlines during the Covid-19 pandemic. The two suits against Finnair and the Spanish government were part of multiple appeals that the airline has made involving money given by governments to airlines to help them during the pandemic. Ryanair had claimed that the state aid packages “distorts competition and confers unfair advantages upon the recipients”. Finnair said: “This outcome was as we expected, and in line with previous rulings”. According to Reuters, in giving their judgement in the appeal regarding the Spanish government state aid, the court said: “The exceptional nature and the particular weight of the objectives pursued by that aid scheme permit the inference that a fair balance was struck between its beneficial effects and its adverse effects on the internal market, with the result that it is in the common interest of the European Union”. Ryanair has appealed multiple state aid decisions before the EU courts and has won cases involving aid granted to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and TAP Air Portugal in 2021, as well as recently getting the commission to overturn its Condor state aid approval.