The European Commission has ruled that certain measures by Germany in favour of Frankfurt-Hahn airport and Ryanair violate EU State aid rules.
The decision follows an investigation into financial support provided by the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate to the airport and airline. The aid included the return of land without compensation and marketing agreements, which were deemed not in line with market conditions. As a result, Germany must recover approximately €13-14 million from Ryanair and €1.25 million from the airport, plus interest.
Other measures, such as airport service agreements and a lease deal with Ryanair, were found to be in line with market conditions and thus not considered State aid. The Commission also ruled that certain public funding for the airport and Haitec AG, an aircraft maintenance company, did not constitute State aid.
The decision aims to restore fair competition by removing the advantage gained through the unlawful aid.
Ryanair commented on the EU decision with the following statement sent to Aviation24.be:
“We welcome the Commission’s findings that all investigated contracts between Ryanair and Frankfurt Hahn concluded between 2013 and 2016 were concluded at market rates in line with EU State aid rules. We will appeal to the EU General Court the Commission’s claim that certain legacy contracts for marketing services involving Ryanair constituted State aid.
Ms Vestager’s decision to investigate historical – almost 20 years old – alleged State aid at a small regional airport in Germany is surprising in the context of her abject failure to recover the enormous €6bn C19 State aid package received by Lufthansa, which was declared illegal by the EU General Court in May 2023. Having waved through a total of €11bn of C19 State aid supports for the Lufthansa Group, which has damaged competition in Germany, and resulted in the German air transport market being the slowest to recover from the C19 pandemic, the outgoing commissioner for competition is now belatedly trying to show that her department has teeth.
Ryanair once again now calls on Ms Vestager to order Germany to immediately recover this multi-billion-euro illegal State aid package from Lufthansa and impose adequate remedies to repair at least some of the damage to competition done by this massive State bailout.”
