Ryanair Loses Appeals Against Finnair & SAS’ State Aid

LONDON – Ryanair has lost appeals against state bailouts for Scandinavian airlines Finnair and SAS as airlines across Europe continue to suffer from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryanair has disapproved of many state bailouts for other airlines and continues to do so.

The Irish low-cost carrier was not in favour of the European Commission’s decision to allow the Swedish, Danish, and Finnish governments to assist SAS and Finnair.

Nonetheless, in two findings on Wednesday 14th April, the EU General Court discovered both occurrences were in accordance with the European Union law.

Aldo Bidini (GFDL 1.2 http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html or GFDL 1.2 http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html), via Wikimedia Commons

“Finnair’s possible failure would have had serious consequences for the Finnish economy” the court said in a statement.

However, Ryanair has said that it would object to the findings again.

“Today’s judgments set the process of liberalisation in air transport back by 30 years by allowing Finland, Denmark and Sweden to give their national flag carriers a leg up over more efficient competitors, based purely on nationality.”

“We will now ask the EU Court of Justice to overturn these unfair subsidies in the interests of competition and consumers. If Europe is to emerge from this crisis with a functioning single market, airlines must be allowed to compete on a level playing field,” the Ryanair representative added.