2023-12-20 22:31:34
A twist of theater. European justice on Wednesday annulled the decisions approving France’s massive aid to Air France and Air France-KLM during the health crisis, considering that the European Commission had made an “error in the definition of beneficiaries”. Seized by the airlines Ryanair and Malta Air who considered the aid measures “contrary to Union law”, the Court of First Instance of the European Union “allows these appeals”, he announced in a press release.
The concrete consequences of these judgments are uncertain. State aid, billions of euros which enabled Air France-KLM and its companies to overcome the health crisis which brought global air transport to a halt in 2020, has since been repaid, with interest.
“Air France-KLM and Air France take note of the two judgments”, indicated the airline group in a reaction, specifying that the two companies “will examine them carefully (…) to assess the implications”. “Air France-KLM and Air France will study the advisability of filing an appeal for annulment before the Court of Justice of the European Union. At the same time, Air France-KLM and Air France will contribute to any exchange between the French State and the European Commission with a view to the adoption of possible new approval decisions,” according to the same source. In addition, “Air France-KLM recalls that Air France-KLM and Air France respected and applied on April 19, 2023 all the conditions for exiting state aid granted under the European Union’s temporary framework relating to Covid -19”.
Distorted competition for Ryanair
A major critic of state aid, the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair “welcomed” the decision, “a triumph for fair competition and consumers throughout the EU” according to it.
“Ryanair now calls on the European Commission to order France to immediately recover this illegal multi-billion euro state aid from Air France-KLM and to impose adequate corrective measures to at least partially remedy the damage caused to competition by this massive state aid,” the company said in a press release.
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