22nd Jun 2022 16:48
(Alliance News) - The EU Court of Justice on Wednesday dismissed a Ryanair Holdings PLC case seeking to annul Covid-19 aid granted to Finnish state-owned airline Finnair.
The complaint was part of a string of more than 20 court cases brought by the Dublin-based airline during the pandemic.
Ryanair has sought to undo the massive bailouts of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Air France KLM SA and other major EU airlines, with varying success.
Finnair was granted over EUR1 billion in aid as part of Finland's measures to support the economy during Covid-19.
"The action seeking annulment of the decision by the [European] Commission to approve aid granted by Finland to the airline Finnair is dismissed in its entirety," the EU court said.
Finnair told AFP that the "matter has undergone thorough scrutiny in the EU, and the court ruling is in line with our expectations".
Criticising the bailouts as "discriminatory", Ryanair – Europe's biggest airline in terms of passenger numbers -- claimed that the aid gives a "leg up" for airlines based on their nationality.
"The Covid-19 crisis has caused damage to all airlines," Ryanair said in a statement.
The Court of Justice of the EU has ruled in Ryanair's favour against Dutch airline KLM and Portugal's TAP, but dismissed cases against Austrian Airlines and Stockholm-based SAS.
source: AFP
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