Challenge to Covid state aid in favor of Brussels Airlines, Alitalia: Ryanair dismissed

Ryanair suffered a setback in its latest attempt to challenge the European Union’s approval of government aid to Airlines companies rivals at the height of pandemic of coronavirus

A court ofEuropean Union ruled on Wednesday that the state aid received by Brussels Airlinesa subsidiary of Lufthansa, in the form of loans and recapitalization during the COVID-19 pandemic, was compatible with the internal market of the European Union, which means that the Irish low cost lost its challenge against this aid. “Brussels Airlines welcomes the decision rendered today by the Court of Justice of the European Union”Brussels Airlines said in a statement. “Brussels Airlines has already fully reimbursed the aid received from the Belgian state last year. This reimbursement took place four years earlier than expected”specifies the Belgian subsidiary of Lufthansa.

Other separate cases brought by Ryanair suffered the same fate, for example for Alitalia which had received more than 272 million euros in Italian support for the struggling national carrier or Air Baltic (250 million euros in aid), although it obtains mixed results in the more than 24 appeals it has filed in the bloc’s courts seeking to overturn EU approvals for aid in the event pandemic that she considered unfair or disproportionate. Ryanair has “took note” Wednesday of the decisions in a press release without specifying whether it would appeal. “Belgium, Italy, Estonia and Latvia have decided to only support their respective national airlines, even though other airlines operating in their respective markets have suffered similar damage as a result of the pandemic,” deplored the low cost leader of the intra-European market in terms of passengers transported.