12.06.2021 - 14:21 UTC
Air Antwerp (WP, Antwerp) has thrown in the towel and will be liquidated as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on European aviation continues to spread.
A 75/25 joint-venture between CityJet and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the carrier had focussed on Antwerp-London City flights using a single Fokker 50, OO-VLS (msn 20109), which was leased from Amapola Flyg (HP, Stockholm Arlanda). The Fokker Aircraft was returned to Malmö, Sweden, early last month.
Air Antwerp has operated intermittently since the pandemic hit, with losses having worsened with the latest wave of the virus. Belgium's continued listing as an Amber country by the UK authorities, effectively discouraging travel there, proved the final straw. After having last operated a scheduled service to London City on November 29, 2020, Air Antwerp had only performed ad-hoc charter services.
“The board of directors of Air Antwerp has therefore decided to completely halt the operational activities of the regional carrier and dissolve the company,” spokesman Yves Panneels said in a media statement...
10.06.2021 - 18:50 UTC
The General Court of the European Union annulled, on June 9, the European Commission's approval of EUR550 million euro (USD670 million) worth of German state aid to Condor (DE, Frankfurt Int'l), questioning the legal basis of just 3% of the amount.
In the ruling, the court ordered the Commission, the EU's top administrative body with wide competencies in the area of competition and state aid, to re-evaluate its decision from April 2020. For the time being, the ruling has no impact on Condor as the court explicitly said that pending a new EC decision, the annulment of the original approval is suspended, and the airline would not have to return any funds.
The court, acting on a legal petition filed by Ryanair, did not question the legality of the state aid as such but rather expressed doubts concerning the method used to calculate the amount approved.
In particular, the court said that EU law permitted for state aid compensating for the damages caused by extraordinary circumstances and conceded that the pandemic was clearly such...
25.05.2021 - 13:35 UTC
Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) has filed a complaint at the General Court of the European Union against the European Commission approvals for Romanian state aid granted to state-owned flag carrier Tarom (RO, Bucharest Otopeni) and privately-held Blue Air (Romania) (0B, Bucharest Otopeni).
Tarom received EUR19.3 million euros (USD23 million) in October 2020 to compensate for losses caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions, after a nod from Brussels, in addition to a EUR36.7 million (USD44.8 million) rescue loan approved in February 2020, shortly before the mass outbreak. Blue Air also received Covid-related aid of EUR62 million (USD75.7 million).
Hungary-based budget carrier Wizz submitted its objection against Tarom’s EC-approved state aid in January 2021, and against Blue Air’s last month, the Romanian news site Economica.net reported on May 20. Economica was issuing its report, it said, the day after Ryanair (FR, Dublin Int'l) notched up its first legal victories against state aid provided to European flag carriers, to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and TAP Air Portugal.
Oana Petrescu, chief executive...
21.05.2021 - 03:44 UTC
The General Court of the European Union has ruled that the EUR475 million euros (USD578.8 million) in Spanish government loans handed to Air Europa (UX, Palma de Mallorca) last year was legal, rejecting a case Ryanair (FR, Dublin Int'l) had brought against the European Commission, which approved the aid.
The state funds, which Madrid approved in October 2020 and which were provided through the sovereign wealth fund (Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales - SEPI), were part of a EUR10 billion (USD12.2 billion) fund in Spain for pandemic-hit companies that the European Commission greenlit last July.
In its May 19 ruling, which can still be appealed at Court of Justice of the European Union, the general court said that the measure complied with EU law and had been “proportionate and non-discriminatory”. As previously reported, in two other judgements on the same day the court agreed with Ryanair on state aid for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) and TAP Air Portugal (TP, Lisbon), annulling European Commission approvals of loans to...
