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BLOOMBERG
Ryanair Holdings Plc won European Union (EU) court challenges against billions of euros of state aid for rival
Air France-KLM, in the latest round of the Irish carrier’s campaign against allegedly unfair subsidies doled out during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The EU’s General Court annulled the bloc’s formal approvals for the aid, saying regulators failed to vet the potential impact of the French government’s aid package not just on local unit Air France but also on Dutch arm KLM.
The European Commission had given the nod to €7 billion ($7.7 billion) in French aid and a separate €4 billion recapitalisation during 2020 and 2021, aimed at giving Air France-KLM some breathing room as it confronted one of the worst crises to hit the airline industry.
Air France-KLM said it will “carefully study” the judgments and would consider whether to lodge an appeal.