The Strategist

EU General Court upholds Ryanair in dispute over Italian state subsidies



05/25/2023 - 10:23



The European Court of Justice upheld Ryanair's appeal against Italian state subsidies for COVID-19-affected airlines in its second instance decision. The European Union gave its approval to the government payments. In this case, the court again sided with the Irish carrier.



Andy Mitchell
Andy Mitchell
The European Union General Court, situated in Luxembourg, stated that "the Commission was unable to provide justification for its conclusion that the measure did not contravene provisions of EU law other than those governing state aid."

The court had previously ruled in Ryanair's favor two weeks prior in a dispute involving state aid measures that its competitors, Lufthansa and SAS, got as a result of the pandemic.

Italy informed the European Commission in October 2020 that it had provided €130 million in state aid to some Italian-licensed airlines, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its worst and stopped travel.

source: reuters.com