Ryanair unit urges Austria not to grant state aid to Austrian Airlines

Ryanair unit Lauda Thursday urged the Austrian government not to grant Lufthansa’s subsidiary Austrian Airlines state aid to help weather the coronavirus outbreak, saying Austrian taxpayers should not subsidise a German company. Lauda’s move demonstrates the intense pressure on the European Union’s major airlines and the competitive challenges that any national financial support could pose. “We do not believe that Lufthansa should receive state aid from Austrian taxpayers in exactly the same way we do not believe that Ryanair should receive state aid from Austrian taxpayers,” Andreas Gruber, the MD of Ryanair’s Austrian unit Lauda, said. If German-owned Austrian Airlines was to receive aid from Vienna, then Lauda would expect similar support as its Austrian staff are entitled to the same fair treatment under EU state aid rules, he said. The finance ministry has so far not commented on press reports of a potential aid package for Austrian Airlines of E500-800m. <br/>