European Court Greenlights Condor's COVID-19 Aid Amid Ryanair Challenges
EU Court Authorizes Financial Aid for Condor amidst Coronavirus Crisis - European court endorses Corona financial assistance for Condor
Got some juicy news for y'all! The European Union's court recently gave the green light to a chunk of COVID-19 aid doled out to the airline, Condor. The justice system in Luxembourg quashed Ryanair's lawsuit, declaring it baseless.
You know who's not happy about it? Ryanair! They've been kickin' up a fuss, claimin' that the compensated costs weren't solely due to the pandemic but also because of other troubles within the company. But the judges didn't buy it. Legal appeals against the decision are still on the table.
Now, the EU Commission waved through three packages of German COVID-19 aid worth over 525 million euros in 2021. One of these, a loan package worth 144 million euros, caught Ryanair's eye before the EU court. It was meant to make up for losses Condor suffered due to travel restrictions between mid-March and the end of December 2020.
Ryanair saw it as a sneaky move, claimin' the aid was discriminatory. They tossed around evidence to prove the EU Commission's review was sloppy. But y'all, none of their arguments impressed the judges.
Originally, the Commission had approved a bigger aid package. But Ryanair put up a fight in court and got it revised. And now, this revised decision was up for question—another challenge Ryanair threw out, but to no avail!
Ryanair's comin' back with references to similar cases where the EU court sided with them. They claim the European Commission hasn't asked member states to return the illegal aid or taken any steps to rectify the competition damage yet.
But Condor's got their heads held high. They said the court made it clear that the aid measures were proper and legal. "Condor managed to secure job security and maintain dependable connections for our passengers."
- Condor Flugdienst
- COVID-19
- Aid
- Ryanair
- EU
- Court of the European Union
- Luxembourg
- EU Commission
Wonder if Ryanair's gonna throw in the towel or keep pushin'! Stay tuned!
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/isef/case_details.cfm?proc_code=3_SA.10641[3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/XML/?uri=CELEX:62021CJ0568[4] https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/transport/air/presentations/asset_upload_file=001.pdf[5] https://www.ft.com/content/283b898e-1a79-48f5-975e-78cfbcb96757
- Despite Ryanair's disapproval, the European Union's Court of Justice upheld the decision to provide vocational training and job security for Condor's employees, as part of the COVID-19 aid package, acknowledging it as a proper and legal measure.
- As the aerospace industry and various businesses continue to struggle due to the pandemic, the finance sector is keenly observing the ongoing legal fights between Condor and Ryanair, hoping for insights into future vocational training programs and industry-specific aid policies.
