Ryanair appeals against Croatia Airlines aid
Ryanair has submitted an appeal to the EU General Court against the European Commission’s decision last December to approve 11.7 million euros in state aid to Croatia Airlines aimed at compensating the carrier for losses incurred as a result of the coronavirus outbreak and the travel restrictions introduced by Croatia and other countries to limit the spread of the virus in the period between March 19, 2020 and June 30, 2020. The budget carrier filed the complaint in late February and announced the opening of a base in both Zagreb and Zadar in April. Ryanair has also filed state aid complaints against Air France, Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, Nordica, Condor, Air Baltic, KLM and TAP.
In its complaint against the European Commission’s Croatia Airlines state aid decision, Ryanair said, among other things, that the EU’s executive branch violated specific provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the general principles of European law that have underpinned the liberalisation of air transport in the EU since the late 1980s. The EU General Court has already dismissed Ryanair’s appeals against aid granted to Finnair and SAS. However, it should be noted that Ryanair has since developed new arguments for aid annulment, which has been included in the Croatia Airlines complaint, emphasising the violation of the general principles of air transport liberalisation and the obligation for the Commission to open formal investigation procedures.
In addition to the 11.7 million euros Croatia Airlines was given to cover losses incurred between March and June 2020, the carrier has also been granted 33.2 million euros as an equity loan by the government and has been recapitalised by the state through a 46.2 million euro cash injection in order to “return the airline’s capital to pre-Covid levels i.e. to the same levels as on December 31, 2019”. Croatia Airlines has said, “This is one of the applicable financial support mechanisms Croatia has adopted based on the European Commission’s temporary framework for state aid measures to support the economy in the current Covid-19 outbreak”. Croatia Airlines registered a 47.3 million euro loss in 2020 after state aid and financial grants are accounted.
0 Response to "Ryanair appeals against Croatia Airlines aid"
Post a Comment