It's been a long time, but now the European Court of Justice has reminded the German leisure airline of its former activities in Klagenfurt. The carrier has to repay aid granted by the state of Carinthia between 2003 and 2008. In figures: 9,6 million euros plus interest and legal costs.

The state government at the time felt it had to “push” Klagenfurt Airport with the help of quite high subsidies. So you "bought" low-cost airlines like Ryanair and Hapag-Llyod Express (former brand name of Tuifly). This was not sustainable, because after the contracts expired, both Ryanair and Air Berlin (after taking over the Tuifly City routes) withdrew. The carrier from the German capital, which no longer exists, even announced this step publicly, because either money will continue to flow or Klagenfurt will be turned its back.

The fact that the then Landesbank Hypo-Alpe-Adria granted the already badly hit Styrian Spirit a loan of around two million euros in September 2005 because Governor Jörg Haider (FPÖ/BZÖ) wanted it that way appears in comparison to the subsidies that were not distributed sustainably almost "cheap". But it wasn't sustainable either, because just a few weeks later the regional airline went bankrupt.

Subsidies from the Haider state government continue to harm the airport to this day

In general, the subsidization practice of the Haider state government at that time has caused serious damage to this day. Former executives at Klagenfurt Airport agree that this topic is always addressed in talks with airlines and that the carriers are signaling that they will only come if, like back then, Air Berlin, Tuifly and Ryanair, among others, also get money. They want to have as complete loss coverage as possible so that the risk is passed on to Carinthia and the airport. Incidentally, there was also an increase in this, because the airport, which was then under public control, even chartered a Boeing 757 for flights to/from Berlin and Hamburg for one season. It didn't matter to Condor how many travelers were on board, because they were full charters. After just one flight plan period, the proverbial plug was pulled by the airport, because it was a financial disaster.

For years, both Ryanair and Tuifly have legally defended themselves against the EU Commission's decision that the subsidies granted by the state of Carinthia were illegal and therefore had to be repaid. The German airline of the travel group suffered another defeat on Thursday before the European Court of Justice, because they rejected the appeal. This also means that Tuifly has to transfer around 9,6 million euros plus interest to the state of Carinthia. Due to the extremely long duration, a lot of interest should have accrued.

Enormously long decision and procedure times

Incidentally, the state of Carinthia has not yet sent a formal reclaim to the holiday airline. They wanted to wait for the outcome of the court proceedings, although a decision by the highest court is now available, at least in the case of Hapag-Lloyd Expres (Tuifly). Subsidies should actually also be demanded back from Air Berlin, but this should be rather hopeless due to the fact that the company is insolvent and in the process of being wound up.

Ryanair has also taken legal action against the EU Commission's order and has so far been unsuccessful in court. In the Tuifly case, it was only in 2016 that the EU Commission decided that the aid, which was ten years or more in the past, was illegal. In 2021, the General Court of the European Union followed the decision and now the ECJ has also confirmed it. The ball is now in the hands of the province of Carinthia, as it has to formally collect the sum. Given how much money has flowed into the airport recently, it is considered quite likely that this will be done, especially since it is very unlikely that Tuifly would start flights from Klagenfurt in the current business model.