Cantabrian lawmakers mum on airline subsidies

Lufthansa loses final appeal in Hahn state aid battle

Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt Int'l) has lost an appeal against the European Commission in a dispute over millions in regional aid that the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse gave to Frankfurt Hahn Airport, a judgement published on January 20 shows.

Confirming two earlier rulings, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg rejected the lawsuit and closed the case (number C-594/19) in which the German carrier had taken a stand against a 2014 decision allowing the state aid, provided from 2009 to 2011, as a result of which Ryanair (FR, Dublin Int'l) allegedly benefitted through the airport’s contracts on discounted airport charges.

The ruling confirmed previous judgements at the European Court of Justice in July 2021 and at the General Court of the European Union in 2019.

Lufthansa first took legal action by objecting to a European Commission decision in 2014 approving funds to Frankfurt Hahn from the regional authorities in the form of a credit line exceeding EUR49 million euros (USD55.5 million).

In its ruling, the European Court...

Alitalia brand to challenge low-cost menace - ITA chairman

Morocco remains on Ryanair's summer 2022 schedule

Ryanair (FR, Dublin Int'l) has scheduled Marrakech and a new service to Agadir on its summer 2022 timetable from Dublin Int'l, contradicting a report by Maghreb Intelligence that the Irish budget carrier intends to withdraw from Morocco indefinitely from May.

The online news magazine cited unnamed sources saying Ryanair was fed-up with successive and “unjustified” closures of Moroccan airspace as a result of COVID-19 which were hampering its flight operations to the North African country.

Ryanair was not immediately available for comment.

However, its summer 2022 flight schedule from Dublin announced on January 20 includes Marrakech, as well as a new route to Agadir. The two Moroccan routes are amongst 120 destinations and more than 900 weekly flights operated by Ryanair this summer from Dublin.

The Irish carrier in mid-December suspended its flights to Morocco until February 1, following the Moroccan authorities' decision to close its skies to all international flights until the end of January to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant.

In November, Ryanair had announced...

Croatia Airlines in talks over possible B737 MAX order

Croatia Airlines (OU, Zagreb) is in talks with Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare) concerning a potential B737 MAX order to replace its A320ceo jets, local aviation news site Avioradar.hr has reported.

The manufacturer has since confirmed the talks are ongoing.

Croatia Airlines currently operates five A319-100s, which are 20.4 years old on average, and two A320-200s with an average age of 22.2 years. The carrier has four A320-200Ns on order from Airbus but has repeatedly stressed that it would not take these aircraft and has been in talks to cancellation them since pre-COVID times. Nonetheless, it does plan to add other new aircraft - according to a recent business plan drafted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the state-owned carrier would need 12-15 new aircraft over the next five years.

Considering the carrier's existing A320neo order, speculation is rife about the A220 being the favoured choice for its future needs, although Embraer E2 jets are also in contention.

Croatia Airlines operated five B737-200s between 1992...