Ryanair loses challenge against German bailout of Condor

The EU's General Court ruled the Dublin-based carrier had failed to show grounds for doubting the way the European Commission handled the application for aid.

"The applicant did not succeed in rebutting the Commission's findings that Condor's difficulties were the result mainly of the Thomas Cook group being placed into liquidation and not of an arbitrary allocation of costs within the group," the court said, adding that it dismissed, the action “in its entirety".

Condor operated a fleet of more than 50 planes before the Covid-19 pandemic. Germany announced the aid package for Condor after it filed for insolvency in September 2019 due to its parent company, Thomas Cook, being placed into liquidation.

The German government then notified the commission it would provide rescue measures for a six-month period by enabling the airline to reach a settlement with its creditors and a decision on its potential sale. The EU executive in 2020 cleared a €550m German state-guaranteed loan to Condor but then ruled in July 2021 that it would allow €321.2m to be provided to the airline in loans and write-offs.

However, the charter and holiday airline collapsed after a potential buyer pulled out in April 2020 when flights were grounded across Europe during the pandemic.

In its ruling, the court rejected Ryanair’s claim that the commission had erred in law in approving the German rescue package without conducting a formal investigation procedure. Ryanair won a first challenge against the rescue in June 2021.

It also said the commission had correctly concluded that there was a risk of disruption to an important service which was hard to replicate as Condor’s insolvency resulted in up to 300,000 of the airline’s customers needing to be repatriated immediately.