All started with this statistics - The EU Commission has hastily approved over €30bn of discriminatory State aid since the crisis began. Discriminatory State subsidies given by EU Member States or planned to be given are set out here, believes Ryanair.
Riding on above statistics, Europe's biggest budget airline has launched 16 lawsuits against the European Commission for allowing state aid for individual airlines.
In addition to Austrian, those carriers include Austrian's parent Lufthansa, Portugal's TAP as well as flag carriers that were helped by national schemes.
On 14 July 2021, the General Court handed down a judgment on an appeal by Ryanair to challenge a European Commission state aid decision approving, under Article 107(2)(b) of the TFEU, the grant of aid by Austria to support Austrian Airlines AG in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier, Ryanair took its grievance to the Luxembourg-based General Court after the EU competition enforcer approved Vienna's decision to grant aid to Austrian Airlines in June 2020.
"The aid granted by Austria to Austrian Airlines in order to compensate it for the damage resulting from the cancellation or rescheduling of its flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic is compatible with the internal market," the General Court ruled today.
The Court further added that, the aid is not an Overcompensation, and have been deducted from the subsidies granted, by Germany to the 'Lufthansa group' , which also includes Austrian Airlines.
But Ryanair is not satisfied, to knock the doors of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), Europe's highest court and released the statement as,
Ryanair today (14 July) noted the EU General Court’s ruling on discriminatory State aid favouring Austrian Airlines, a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group which in June 2020 was granted €150m aid by the Austrian government. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Austrian Airlines has received €600m in State aid and the Lufthansa Group more than €11bn.
While the Covid-19 crisis has caused damage to all airlines that contribute to the economy and the connectivity of Austria, the Austrian government decided to support only its inefficient former “national” airline (now German-owned), discriminating against all others in clear breach of the fundamental principles of EU law.
Ryanair subsequently referred the European Commission’s approval of this €150m illegal subsidy to Austrian Airlines to the EU General Court in November 2020. Ryanair will appeal today’s General Court judgment to the Court of Justice of the EU.
The General Court this year has ruled in favour of Ryanair in its challenges against aid given to German charter airline Condor, KLM and TAP. It has thrown out challenges against aid for SAS, Finnair and Air France.
“One of the EU’s greatest achievements is the creation of a single market for air transport. The European Commission’s approval of State aid to Austrian Airlines went against the fundamental principles of EU law and have turned back the clock on the process of liberalisation in air transport by rewarding inefficiency and encouraging unfair competition."
"If Europe is to emerge from this crisis with a single market that serves the consumers and the economy, airlines must be allowed to compete on a level playing field. Undistorted competition weeds out inefficiency and drives low fares and choice. Subsidies, on the other hand, encourage inefficiency and will harm consumers for decades to come.”
