German airline giant Lufthansa on Thursday lost a legal battle over a €6 billion ($7 billion) pandemic-era government bailout after the European Union’s top court ruled that Brussels mishandled its approval of the financial support, News.Az reports, citing AFP.

Europe’s largest airline group by revenue received the bailout in 2020 to prevent collapse as government lockdowns introduced to contain the spread of Covid-19 brought global air travel to a near standstill.

The European Commission had initially approved the state aid package, but Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair and German airline Condor launched legal challenges, arguing that the decision violated EU state aid rules.

On Thursday, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed Lufthansa’s appeal and upheld an earlier ruling by a lower tribunal, which had already annulled the Commission’s approval of the recapitalisation.

In its statement, the court said: “The Court of Justice dismisses Lufthansa’s appeal and thus upholds the General Court’s ruling to annul the decision by which the Commission had approved the recapitalisation of Lufthansa.”

The lower court had correctly concluded that the Commission had “infringed” emergency rules introduced to allow governments to support economies during times of crisis, the ECJ added.

Lufthansa, which also operates Eurowings, Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, and Brussels Airlines, and has acquired a stake in Italy’s ITA Airways, has already repaid the bailout funds. It was not immediately clear what impact the court’s decision would have on the airline group.

In a statement, Lufthansa said it took note of the ruling.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev