The court of the European Union upheld a lawsuit by Ryanair and revoked the approval given by the EU Commission in the matter of Condor state aid. Affected is the state secured loan that was granted in April 2020.

The decision of the governing body of the European Union is void for “insufficient reasoning”. The Commission now has the option of improving this or referring it to the European Court of Justice. In the event of a repair, Ryanair has the option of going to court again.

In autumn 2019, Condor received around 380 million euros in the form of a state-secured loan. At that time, the financial needs were justified with the collapse of Thomas Cook. In April 2020, the sale to Polish LOT broke and the German state again provided 550 million euros. Ryanair had sued against the release by the EU Commission and prevailed before the court of the European Union, which acts as the first instance. The holiday airline has not yet commented on possible consequences. Just a few days ago, a financial company took over the majority.

“The German state aid to Condor - both in 2019 and 2020 - violated fundamental principles of EU law and distorted the market to the detriment of consumers. Today's verdict is a major win for consumers and competition. During the Covid-19 pandemic, over 30 billion euros in discriminatory government subsidies were donated to EU flag airlines. Unless the EU courts are stopped in accordance with today's judgment, the effects of the market distortions caused by this state aid will be felt for decades. If Europe is to emerge from this crisis with a functioning internal market, the European Commission must stand up to national governments and stop stamping discriminatory state aid for inefficient national airlines, ”said a Ryanair spokesman in a first reaction.