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Ryanair to appeal EU court rulings on Finnair and SAS state aid

Ryanair has issued this statement:

Ryanair has noted the EU General Court’s rulings on Finnish, Danish and Swedish State aid favoring Finnair and SAS over all other EU airlines. The Finnish government granted a €600 million loan guarantee to Finnair which has benefited from more than €1.2 billion in State aid since the beginning of the pandemic. The Danish and Swedish governments each granted a loan guarantee of €137 million to SAS which has also benefited from recapitalization State aid from these countries, bringing the total aid received by SAS to over €1.3 billion.

While the COVID-19 crisis has caused damage to all airlines that contribute to the economies and the connectivity of Finland, Denmark and Sweden, the governments of these countries decided to support only their flag carriers. Ryanair referred the European Commission’s approvals of these illegal subsidies to the EU General Court in June 2020. Ryanair will appeal today’s General Court judgments to the Court of Justice of the EU.

Ryanair’s spokesperson said:

“One of the EU’s greatest achievements is the creation of a true single market for air transport. The European Commission’s approvals of the Finnish, Danish and Swedish State aid went against the fundamental principles of EU law. Today’s judgments set the process of liberalization in air transport back by 30 years by allowing Finland, Denmark and Sweden to give their national flag carriers a leg up over more efficient competitors, based purely on nationality.

We will now ask the EU Court of Justice to overturn these unfair subsidies in the interests of competition and consumers. If Europe is to emerge from this crisis with a functioning single market, airlines must be allowed to compete on a level playing field. Undistorted competition can weed out inefficiency and benefit consumers through low fares and choice. Subsidies, on the other hand, encourage inefficiency and will harm consumers for decades to come.”

The EU Commission’s spineless approach to State aid since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis has allowed Member States to write open-ended cheques to their inefficient zombie flag carriers in the name of faded national prestige. The EU Commission has hastily approved over €30 billion of discriminatory State aid since the crisis began. Discriminatory State subsidies given by EU Member States or planned to be given are set out here:

Lufthansa Group €11bn

Air France-KLM €10.6bn

Alitalia €3.5bn

SAS €1.3bn

TAP €1.2bn

Finnair €1.2bn

Norwegian €0.8bn

LOT €0.65bn

Condor €0.6bn

Air Europa €0.5bn

Top Copyright Photo: Ryanair will soon take delivery of its first high-density MAX 8: Ryanair Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 (200) N4027A (EI-HGK) (msn 62326) BFI (Joe G. Walker). Image: 953313.

Ryanair aircraft slide show:

Ryanair’s 200-seat Boeing 737 MAX is certified by the FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on March 31, 2021 certified the high-density Boeing 737 MAX 8200 which is destined to be delivered to Ryanair.

This high-density model is based on the 737 MAX 8 that is able to seat up to 200 passengers in an all-economy configuration.

The model contains extra emergency exits.

European agencies are also expected to approve the new type later this month before operations can commence.

Ryanair will be the first airline to operate the 737 MAX 200, a variant based on the successful 737 MAX 8 that can accommodate up to 200 seats, increasing revenue potential and providing customers up to 20 percent better fuel efficiency per seat than today’s most efficient single-aisle airplanes.

Boeing developed the 737 MAX 200 in response to the needs of the fast growing low-cost sector, which is forecasted to account for 35 percent of single-aisle airline capacity by 2033. While the heart of the single-aisle market will remain at 160 seats, the 737 MAX 200 will provide carriers like Ryanair with up to 11 more seats of potential revenue and up to 5 percent lower operating costs than the 737 MAX 8, driving economic growth and increasing access to air travel.