Can and will Lufthansa be forced to repay the state aid that the airline received as part of the recapitalization plan during the Covid crisis in June 2020? That’s the question now that the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Wednesday that the European Commission made mistakes when approving that aid package of the German government. The case was filed by Ryanair and Condor Airlines. Will Lufthansa once more have to repay the German state aid?
“The Commission committed several errors, in particular, by considering that Lufthansa was unable to obtain financing on the markets for the entirety of its needs, by failing to require a mechanism incentivizing Lufthansa to buy back Germany’s shareholding as quickly as possible, by denying that Lufthansa held significant market power at certain airports, and by accepting various commitments that do not ensure that effective competition on the market is preserved,” the General Court says in a media statement.
Active as a journalist since 1987, with a background in newspapers, magazines, and a regional news station, Richard has been covering commercial aviation on a freelance basis since late 2016.
Richard is contributing to AirInsight since December 2018. He also writes for Airliner World, Aviation News, Piloot & Vliegtuig, and Luchtvaartnieuws Magazine. Twitter: @rschuur_aero.
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