Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) has lost an appeal at the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning support measures Sweden and France offered their airlines in the early days of the pandemic. In a November 23 ruling, the court rejected all of the arguments the low-cost carrier put forward.

In 2020, to ease the pressure on their airlines, France allowed operators holding a French air operator's certificate (AOC) to defer paying civil aviation and solidarity taxes, while Sweden allowed its AOC holders to secure government guarantees to help in obtaining loans of up to SEK5 billion kronor (USD476 million). The European Commission approved the measures.

Ryanair took issue and challenged the decision in the European Union's General Court, which later dismissed the application, prompting the airline to appeal to the Court of Justice on five grounds, namely:

  • that the General Court wrongly rejected the plea at first instance alleging infringement of the principle of non-discrimination;
  • that there was a manifest distortion of the facts in the examination of the plea alleging infringement of the free movement of services;
  • that the General Court erred in law in rejecting the application of a balancing test for the beneficial and adverse effects of the aid scheme;
  • that there was a manifest distortion of the facts in the General Court holding that the Commission had not infringed its obligation to state reasons under the second paragraph of Article 296 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; and
  • that there was a distortion of the facts through the General Court deciding not to examine the substance of a plea alleging infringement of the appellant’s procedural rights.

However, Justice Alfredo Calot Escobar rejected all five arguments and dismissed the appeal. He reaffirmed, in particular, that aid cannot be considered incompatible with the internal market for reasons that are linked solely to whether the aid is selective or distorts or threatens to distort competition.

He ordered Ryanair to pay its costs and the European Union's costs. The governments of Sweden and France, being interveners in the action at first instance, were ordered to bear their costs.

ch-aviation has contacted Ryanair for comment.