General Court dismisses Ryanair’s challenge to COVID-19 aid granted to Condor
In Case T-366/22, the General Court (GC) dismissed Ryanair’s action against the Commission’s approval of individual COVID-19 aid granted by Germany to Condor Flugdienst GmbH for the period 17 March to 31 December 2020. The measure, consisting of two KfW loans backed by a state guarantee, with a total nominal amount of €400 million. The element of that measure amounted to EUR 144.1 million. The aid was approved under Article 107(2)(b) TFEU.
The GC held that Ryanair was not individually concerned and thus could not challenge the substance of the decision. However, Ryanair was entitled to invoke a procedural right regarding the failure by the Commission to open a formal investigation procedure. The GC found nonetheless that Ryanair did not demonstrate the existence of serious doubts regarding the compatibility of the aid with the internal market. In particular, the GC confirmed the plausibility of the counterfactual scenario used in the decision, the existence of a direct causal link to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the absence of double compensation, and the adequacy of the Commission’s damage assessment.
For more information, see the judgment.