Ciarán Sunderland, Doris Pundy and Regina Wank, dpa
BERLIN – A European Union court has annulled the approval for German state aid granted to Lufthansa worth €6 billion ($6.6 billion) during the Covid-19 pandemic in a ruling on Wednesday.
The EU General Court cancelled the decision by the European Commission to approve the state aid, citing “several errors” in a statement.
The commission wrongly assumed Lufthansa could not borrow from financial markets, misjudged the German airline’s market power at certain airports and agreed conditions which did not ensure effective competition between airlines, the EU court found.
The billion-euro aid package for Lufthansa was awarded in the spring of 2020 and received approval from the commission, the bloc’s top competition watchdog, later in June.
Ryanair and German leisure airline Condor filed a legal case against the decision.
The EU’s usually strict aid rules were loosened at the outbreak of the pandemic to allow governments to support struggling companies but still required commission approval.
Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa, received financial support from the government after Covid-19 travel restrictions brought business to a standstill.
Tens of thousands of jobs were on the line in the company, which employs around 110,000 people. The ruling may be appealed at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the bloc’s highest court.
