Lufthansa to lease in Fokker 100 capacity for Summer 2018

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...

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Delta denies interest in investing in Italy’s ITA Airways

Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) does not plan to invest in ITA Airways (AZ, Rome Fiumicino) for the time being, its chief executive Ed Bastian told Reuters on January 13, his comments coming a day after the Alitalia successor confirmed it was looking for a partner ready to invest in the Italian carrier.

“We have no plans to invest in them,” Bastian said, although he acknowledged that the two airlines were working on a codeshare agreement, talks on which began in December.

ITA Airways’ chairman, Alfredo Altavilla, told a parliamentary hearing on January 12 that the state-owned carrier had started informal talks with potential partners, in Europe and overseas, though he opted not to name them. An alliance could be sealed by June, he added.

“We don’t need codesharing or a commercial joint venture. If you put money on the table, you play. If you don’t put money on the table, you can forget asking for access to the data room. We are looking for an equity partnership,” he said....