EU court rejects LOT lawsuit against Air Berlin break-up

DHC Dash 8-400 (Photo: Jan Gruber).
DHC Dash 8-400 (Photo: Jan Gruber).

EU court rejects LOT lawsuit against Air Berlin break-up

DHC Dash 8-400 (Photo: Jan Gruber).
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The bankruptcy of the Air Berlin Group was a few years ago. At that time, the Polish airline LOT had sued against the permits of the EU Commission, which led to the acquisition of assets and the airline Walter by Lufthansa and other parts by Easyjet. The court of the European Commission dismissed the appeal.

Review: Air Berlin had to file for bankruptcy in the summer of 2017 and was kept in the air with a million dollar loan granted by the German federal government through the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau. At that time, violent allegations were made that Lufthansa had already selected the fillet pieces in advance. Some statements by politicians fueled these assumptions.

Lufthansa actually wanted to incorporate the Austrian airline Niki, but the EU Commission refused. The insolvency administrator then sold this carrier to the IAG subsidiary Vueling. This deal and the bankruptcy proceedings in Germany were overturned. New proceedings were opened at the Korneuburg Regional Court, which ultimately led to Laudamotion GmbH, which was then owned by Niki Lauda, ​​taking over the assets from Niki.

In Germany, significant parts of the Air Berlin group went to Lufthansa. These included numerous take-off and landing rights as well as the subsidiary Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter. The last-mentioned company was later passed on to Zeitfracht and filed for bankruptcy towards the start of the corona pandemic. The Lufthansa Group was not interested in Berlin-Tegel, so Easyjet got on board.

The Polish LOT also wanted part of the cake, but came away completely empty-handed. They went to the Court of Justice of the European Union because the EU Commission's approvals were considered illegal and distorting competition. The preliminary stage of the ECJ rejected this under the business figures T-296/18 and T-240/18.

LOT and other plaintiffs have the opportunity to appeal. This would land the case before the European Court of Justice. It is currently still open whether the Polish carrier will take this step.

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