EU court overturns ruling against approval of KLM pandemic aid

The EU’s top court has overturned a ruling that had annulled the European Commission’s approval of €3.4 billion in Dutch state aid for KLM during the Covid-19 pandemic. The case will return to a lower EU court for a fresh ruling on parts of Ryanair’s challenge.

The Commission approved the aid in 2020 to address the pandemic’s effects. Ryanair argued that the support was unlawful. The EU General Court previously found in the airline’s favour, saying the Commission had not properly examined whether the aid would benefit KLM alone.

On Thursday, the Court of Justice of the European Union partly rejected Ryanair’s appeal and sent the case back to the General Court to rule on parts of the challenge that had not been decided at first instance. The latest judgment therefore does not settle the remaining issues in Ryanair’s case.