In a blow to Ryanair, EU court approves state help measures

A top court has ruled that measures introduced by France and Sweden to help some airlines weather the fallout of coronavirus restrictions are compatible with EU law, dealing a major blow to low-cost carrier Ryanair which challenged them as unfair. The General Court of the European Union handed down two decisions Wednesday. It said a system introduced by France to defer tax payments for airlines holding a French operating license “does not constitute discrimination.” The Luxembourg-based court also ruled that a loan guarantee scheme put in place last year by Sweden to support airlines with a Swedish operating license “is presumed to have been adopted in the interest of the European Union.” The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, which polices state aid and other competition issues, approved the two plans last year, weeks after the pandemic began spreading throughout Europe and border closures and other restrictions hit air travel. Ryanair which says it was transporting around 149m passengers a year before the coronavirus hit, went to court to have that approval annulled, arguing that the schemes constitute unfair state aid bailouts for national carriers.<br/>