Irish low-cost airline Ryanair loses its attempt in an EU court to block massive public bailouts of rival companies such as Air France and SAS.
Ryanair lost the first round of its campaign to topple Covid-19 bailouts for rival airlines when a European Union court ruled that French and Swedish subsidies didn’t break state-aid rules.
The ruling backs EU approval for a French program delaying aviation tax payments for companies with a French license and Swedish loan guarantees for locally based airlines. Ryanair had argued that these programs mainly benefited Air France-KLM and SAS AB and unfairly discriminated against other European carriers.
The EU’s General Court said the state support was appropriate for tackling serious disturbances to the countries’ economies caused by the pandemic, according to two judgments published on Wednesday.