The low cost airline Ryanair is taking legal action against Corona state aid for airlines and has European Court of Justice Objection against State aid for Air France and SAS inserted. Also in Austria Has Ryanair as the owner of the Laudamotion little joy with any government grants for the Lufthansa subsidiary AUA.
“So far the European commission only two decisions were made and we have formally appealed against those decisions and we will go to court, “said Ryanair CFO David O’Brien on Tuesday.
Deferral of tax payments
The Objection affects both Air France as well as SAS. The French had to cope with the economic decline in the face of the Corona pandemic government decided the Air France by allowing the airline to defer certain tax payments. SAS got from governments Denmark and Sweden a loan of 3.3 billion crowns (310 million euros) for which the states guarantee.
“The guarantee means that the SAS never have to repay this sum, “said O’Brien. In relation to Air France he said the fact that French airlines “do not have to pay French airport taxes, but non-French airlines do,” is a market distortion.
Objection to all grants
“We will appeal against any decision by the European Commission on state aid,” said O’Brien continue. Ryanair is a private low-cost airline that flies national and international routes in a number of European countries.
The travel industry has been particularly hard hit by the effects of the pandemic. The airlines had to leave almost all of their planes on the ground due to a European travel ban, which is why governments have given or are considering aid to state airlines.
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