EU airline aid ‘spineless’ says Ryanair, as court rejects appeal

Ryanair has come out with harsh words against the EU in light of its support of national flagship airlines. 

Ryanair claims that state bailout deals for the bloc’s national airlines gives them an unfair advantage. 

The budget airline, whose lawsuits against French and Swedish support of national airlines Air France and SAS respectively were rejected on Wednesday, will now bring its protests to the EU Court of Justice. 

The EU’s lower General Court, which rejected Ryanair’s initial challenge on Wednesday, justified its ruling, saying in a statement that “this aid scheme is appropriate to remedy the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and does not constitute discrimination.

This comes in light of reports that Air Malta will need major state support to survive, after Finance Minister Clyde Caruana revealed the national airline is bleeding 170k daily.

Asked to comment on Air Malta’s plea for aid, BusinessNow.mt was pointed to Ryanair’s statement that “the EU Commission’s spineless approach to state aid since the beginning of the COVID crisis has allowed member states to write open-ended cheques to their inefficient zombie flag carriers in the name of faded national prestige”.

Ryanair revealed at the start of February that it made a €306 million loss in Q3 2020, but claimed that its European expansion plans will continue, as the airline embraces growth opportunities, “where competitor airlines have substantially cut capacity or failed.”