By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Ryanair on Wednesday lost its fight against 650 million euros ($702 million) of Polish state aid granted to Polish airline LOT after Europe’s second-highest court sided with EU competition authorities which allowed the subsidy.
European Union governments provided billions of euros in aid to their national airlines at the height of the COVID pandemic as travel restrictions and plunging demand hammered air travel.
The European Commission in its 2020 decision said the Polish aid, which consisted of a 400-million-euro subsidised loan and a 250-million-euro capital injection, was necessary and appropriate to help LOT weather the crisis.
The Luxembourg-based General Court endorsed the decision.
“The Commission did not commit a manifest error in finding in the contested decision that LOT was unable to find financing on the markets at affordable terms,” judges said.
Ryanair, which has won and also lost legal challenges against subsidies granted to its COVID-hit rivals, can appeal only on points of law to the Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe’s highest.
The case is T -398/21 Ryanair and Ryanair Sun v Commission.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter)
