Ryanair has lost a case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over its complaint about Portugal's bail-out of the airline TAP during the Covid pandemic.
The case relates to a €1.2 billion cash injection which the Portuguese government granted the airline in June 2020.
At the time Lisbon notified the European Commission that the deal involved a loan agreement between the government, TAP Air Portugal, and Transportes Aéreos Portugueses SGPS (TAP SGPS), the 100% shareholder of the airline, which would act as guarantor.
The plan was to keep the airline afloat for six months between July and December 2020.
In June that year, the Commission announced that the loan constituted state aid, but that it was compatible with the rules of the EU's internal market.
Ryanair challenged that decision before the General Court of the ECJ.
The court at the time found in Ryanair’s favour, and annulled the Commission's decision to accept the state aid.
This was because, according to the General Court, the Commission had not indicated whether TAP SGPS belonged to a larger business group, a fact necessary to establish if it was entitled to receive the rescue package.
The General Court gave the Commission the possibility to adopt a new decision within two months, and it suspended the effects of the annulment pending the adoption of the new decision.
On 16 July 2021, the Commission adopted a new decision approving the aid, announcing that TAP SGPS was, in fact, eligible for rescue aid.
Ryanair challenged the new decision before the General Court.
Today the General Court dismissed Ryanair's action, arguing that the Commission did not disregard the conditions of eligibility for rescue aid.
Furthermore, the Commission was correct in considering that the rescue package met an objective of common interest, that it was appropriate and proportionate.
The Court also held that the Commission could not be criticised for having carried out an incomplete examination of the negative effects of the aid measure and that principles of non-discrimination, freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment were also not breached.
Ryanair has taken a number of successful cases against European airlines to the European Court of Justice over complaints that they should not have been given government support during the pandemic, including one high profile case involving the German aviation giant Lufthansa.
As well as Lufthansa, it has won challenges against state aid granted to Condor, KLM and Air France, but lost its challenges against those for SAS and Finna.
Ryanair passengers numbers up 2% in January
Ryanair reported a 2% increase in passenger numbers for January with the airline saying its growth was hampered by the delayed delivery of 38 new Boeing planes.
Ryanair carried a total of 12.4 million passengers in January, up from 12.2 million the same time the previous year.
Its load factor - how many seats it fills one each flight - rose by two percentage points to 91% from 89%.
