Ryanair has today lost its fight against state aid granted to flag carriers including rivals Air France and SAS after a top European court said such schemes amid the Covid-19 pandemic were not discriminatory.
Ryanair said it will now refer the issue to the Court of Justice of the EU. The judgments from the Luxembourg-based General Court is the first to deal with aid measures cleared by the European Commission under easier rules aimed at helping European Union governments prop up companies hit by the pandemic.
The court said the French and Swedish schemes were in line with the bloc's rules. "That aid scheme is appropriate for making good the economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and does not constitute discrimination," the court