Ryanair loses three EU court rulings to Finnair and SAS over Covid bailouts

Ryanair Holdings lost three more court challenges to Covid-19 bailouts for rival carriers after a European Union court said support for Finnair Oyj and SAS didn’t break the bloc’s state-aid rules. In two cases concerning SAS, the EU General Court ruled Wednesday that Swedish and Danish aid “does not amount to unlawful discrimination.” In a third case, the judges said a E600m ($718m) loan guarantee for Finnair is also in line with EU law. Ryanair, which earlier this month warned that it will struggle to return to profit this year, has filed more than a dozen lawsuits contesting EU approvals for pandemic aid doled out by governments to carriers including Lufthansa and Air France-KLM. The Irish low-cost carrier argues that the aid for selected airlines creates an unfair advantage and will help rivals to emerge stronger, slash fares and swallow up others. The company lost its first two cases in February, when EU judges ruled that French and Swedish state support was appropriate for tackling serious disturbances to the countries’ economies caused by the pandemic. Ryanair has argued that French and Swedish programs mainly benefited Air France-KLM and SAS. It’s appealing the decisions at the EU’s top court.<br/>