Ryanair loses state aid lawsuit in EU court
- The losses in court for Ryanair were just a first round, with the cases now potentially moving to the higher European Court of Justice.
LUXEMBOURG: Irish low-cost airline Ryanair on Wednesday lost its attempt in an EU court to block massive public bailouts of rival companies such as Air France and SAS, a statement said.
"This aid scheme is appropriate to remedy the economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and does not constitute discrimination," the EU's lower General Court, based in Luxembourg, said in a statement, in reference to the French case.
Ryanair has pursued a legal campaign across Europe to stop bailout deals for the bloc's legacy airlines, arguing the state aid gives them an unfair advantage.
The Irish flyer lost two cases on Wednesday: one involving a tax delay for Air France and other French airlines, and another that offers loan guarantees for Sweden's airlines, mainly SAS.
The court said that the limitation of the loan guarantee scheme to Swedish airlines "is appropriate for achieving the objective of remedying the serious disturbance in Sweden's economy".
The losses in court for Ryanair were just a first round, with the cases now potentially moving to the higher European Court of Justice.
Ryanair -- Europe's biggest airline in terms of passenger numbers -- is also seeking to undo Germany's massive bailout of Lufthansa in the EU courts.
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