An EU court has endorsed a formal grievance lodged by Ryanair, challenging a European Commission verdict that sanctioned a German financial aid package worth over €300 million for the Frankfurt-based Condor airline. The German government aimed to offer €321 million in assistance for the restructuring of the Condor charter airline following its financial woes after the collapse of its parent group. Furthermore, the government also donated €200 million to the company in COVID-19 relief efforts. However, Ryanair filed an objection to the €321 million restructuring aid at the General Court of the European Union. Despite the commission, Germany, and Condor arguing for the legal case to be dismissed, the court in Luxembourg ruled in favour of Ryanair this Wednesday, revoking the commission’s approval of the aid. The court stated that the commission should not have validated the aid without first initiating a formal investigation. However, it was also stated that Ryanair could not establish that the aid had a significant detrimental impact on its market competitiveness. Ryanair can contest this week’s ruling at the European Court of Justice. The Irish airliner claimed this verdict as a victory for fair competition and criticised the commission for failing to retrieve billions of euros of state aid given to other airlines, contravening fundamental EU law principles.
Rewording the original text, it can be stated that in the preceding year, Ryanair triumphed in an individual case concerning Italy’s €130 million state funding scheme aimed at supporting airlines amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This judgement was passed by the European General Court. Similarly another verdict, contradicting the European Commission’s previous decision to permit the aid, was disputed. During the pandemic, Ryanair frequently questioned subsidies given to its competitors, although it occasionally faced defeat. Despite this, it prevailed in opposing a colossal €6 billion state aid package intended for Germany’s national airline, Lufthansa.