Ryanair has been found wrong by the second-highest court in the European Union in lawsuits against state aid to competitors.
It is a sensitive defeat for Irish society, which believes that corona support creates unfair competition for individual companies.
Ryanair complained to the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg about, among other things, the state aid from Sweden and Denmark to SAS and Finland to Finnair. These airlines received credit guarantees from the state for EUR 148 million and EUR 600 million, respectively.
The European Commission approved the aid packages. Ryanair then filed a lawsuit against the day-to-day EU administration because certain airlines are favoured over competitors according to the budget flyer. The European courts now rule that financial aid is compatible with fair market forces within the EU.
For example, individual companies may receive state aid if their bankruptcy would cause a “serious disturbance in the economy”, as would have been the case if Finnair had collapsed. Also, the General Court ruled that EU rules allow the Member States to come to the aid of individual companies if they have run into problems due to exceptional events, such as the corona pandemic.
Ryanair says it will appeal to the rulings. “Today’s rulings set aviation liberalization 30 years back in time,” the company wrote in a statement.
Ryanair has filed a variety of European lawsuits against state aid received by airlines. Earlier, the low-cost fighter was not right about support from Sweden to SAS and France to Air France. Ryanair also has cases pending regarding state aid to, among others, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa.